EVALUATION OF ALTERNATE, FIXED AND CONVENTIONAL FURROW IRRIGATION SYSTEMS ON TOMATO YIELD AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY AT HUMBO WOREDA, ETHIOPI

Abstract

Water scarcity is one of the most important factors influencing sustainable agricultural production in arid and semi-arid regions. Insufficient water supply for irrigation was the norm rather than the exception, and irrigation management has been shifting from emphasizing production per unit area to maximizing the production per unit of water consumed, the water productivity. To cope with scarce water supplies, applying irrigation water below full crop-water requirements is an important tool to achieve the goal of reducing irrigation water use and increase water use efficiency (WUE). The objective of this research was to evaluate the three furrow irrigation systems on tomato yield and water use efficiency and identify the furrow irrigation method which allows achieving optimum tomato yield. To achieve this, experimental design was arranged in RCBD with three treatments and four replications. The irrigation treatments were Alternate Furrow Irrigation (AFI), Fixed Furrow Irrigation (FFI) and Conventional Furrow Irrigation (CFI) method. The analysis of variance indicated highly significant differences in yield and water use efficiency (P < 0.05). The result showed that conventional furrow irrigation method gave maximum fruit yield (32 ton/ha) and alternative furrow irrigation method showed highest water use efficiency (8.82 kg/m3 ), and has high marginal return rate. There for, in area where enough water available, applying water at conventional furrow irrigation system through growing season is advisable to obtain maximum tomato yield and in water scarce area applying irrigation water through alternative furrow irrigation system in four day interval is found to be economical feasible and highest water use efficiency.