A study of infiltration rate in South West region of Burkina Faso

The rapid progress and development of agriculture in Burkina Faso aim towards the expansion of agricultural land, the utilization of all water sources and the increase in crop production to meet the needs of rabidly increasing population. Therefore, infiltration rate (IR) was studied at nine locations in the south west of Burkina Faso ( Niangolko soils, Banfora soils and Farakoba soils) soil texture was different from region to another and varied between sandy to sandy clay loam ,The values of IR (mmh-1 ) in the first zone ranged from 14.00 to 21.02mm h-1, rising in the second zone from 8.50 mmh-1 to 35.05 mm h"1ʹ meanwhile ranged between 2.74 mmh-1 to 31.99 mmh-1 in the third zone. The electric conductivity (EC dS m-1) ranged from 0.51 to 11.23dS m-1 and CaCO3 from 7.25 to 34.8 %. All values of infiltration rate were ranged between moderate to very rapid according to soil physical and chemical properties. It can be concluded that irrigation systems should be designed according to basic IR and convenient practices of farm management, because soil is one of the main limiting factors for agriculture and precision farm