Simulation of potential benefit of water conservation in the north east arid zone of Nigeria

Abstract

An agro-climatic model was used to predict the potential benefits of water conservation (runoff control and runoff harvesting) to upload millet systems in the North East Arid Zone of Nigeria in wet, average and dry years. The results showed that on land presently prone to runoff, there are likely to be significant benefits from runoff control in all years, however, there is little benefit from runoff harvesting in all but the driest years as the light soils of the uplands are unable to hold the extra water and hence drainage losses increase.