Effect of irrigation frequency and depth on yield and water productivity of Field Pea at Koga and Rib irrigation Scheme, Ethiopia
Abstract
Efficient irrigation scheduling is crucial for optimising crop yield and water productivity, particularly in water-scarce regions. This study evaluated the effects of different irrigation frequencies and depths on the yield and water productivity of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) at the Koga and Rib irrigation schemes in Ethiopia over two growing seasons. A factorial experiment with two irrigation intervals (10 and 14 days) and five irrigation depths (50 %, 75 %, 100 %, 125 %, and 150 % of crop water requirement) was conducted using a split-plot design with three replications. The results revealed that irrigation scheduling significantly influenced both grain yield and water productivity at both sites. At Koga, the highest grain yield (2.12 t ha⁻¹) and optimal water productivity (0.55 kg m⁻³) were achieved by irrigating at 100 % crop water requirement (CWR) every 10 days. Conversely, at Rib, the highest yield (3.21 t ha⁻¹) and water productivity (1.05 kg m-3) were obtained with 75 % CWR applied every 10 days. Increasing irrigation depth beyond these optimal levels did not further enhance yield and led to a decline in water productivity. These findings suggest that site-specific irrigation scheduling is essential for maximising field pea production while improving water use efficiency. The study recommends irrigating field pea at 100% CWR every 10 days in Koga and 75 % CWR every 10 days in Rib to achieve the best balance between yield and water conservation.
Full Text:
PDFReferences
K. DeJonge, and A. Kaleita. Simulation of spatially variable precision irrigation and its effects on corn growth using CERES-Maize. in 2006 ASAE Annual Meeting. 2006. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
D. Thomas, K. Harrison, and J. Hook, Sprinkler irrigation scheduling with the UGA easy pan: performance characteristics. Applied engineering in agriculture, 2004. 20(4): p. 439.
M. Al-Jamal, et al., Yield-based, irrigated onion crop coefficients. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 1999. 15(6): p. 659.
J. Rockström, J. Barron, and P. Fox, Water productivity in rain-fed agriculture: challenges and opportunities for smallholder farmers in drought-prone tropical agroecosystems. Water productivity in agriculture: Limits and opportunities for improvement, 2003. 85199(669): p. 8.
M. Upton, and U. Martin, The economics of tropical farming systems. 1996: Cambridge University Press.
Abebe, M., Irrigation Research technologies recommended for sustaining crop production in some irrigated areas of Ethiopia. Norwegian university of science and technology, Norway, 2001.
R.G. Allen, et al., Crop evapotranspiration-Guidelines for computing crop water requirements-FAO Irrigation and drainage paper 56. Fao, Rome, 1998. 300(9): p. D05109.
B. Girma, The state of grain marketing in Ethiopia. in Proceedings of the EDRI/IFPRI, 2020 Network Policy Forum on Toward Sustainable Food Security in Ethiopia: Integrating the Agri-Food Chain. 2003.
FAO, IFAD. The state of food insecurity in the world, 2012: p. 65.
P. Smýkal, et al., Pea (Pisum sativum L.) in the genomic era. Agronomy, 2012. 2(2): p. 74-115.
D. Tewabe, et al., Determination of crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling of wheat using CROPWAT at Koga and Rib irrigation scheme, Ethiopia. Indian Journal of Ecology, 2022. 49(2): p. 363-371.
G. Ayana, et al., Plant variety release. protection and seed quality control directorate, 2016, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
FAO, Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 46. CROPWAT: A Computer Program for Irrigation Planning and Management, 1992: p. 48.
J. Doorenbos, and W. Pruitt, Crop water requirements. FAO irrigation and drainage paper 24. Land and Water Development Division, FAO, Rome, 1977. 144.
S. Ewaid, S. Abed, and N. Ansari, Crop water requirements and irrigation schedules for some major crops in Southern Iraq. Water 11: 756, 2019.
A.P. Savva, and K. Frenken, Crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling. 2002: FAO Sub-Regional Office for East and Southern Africa Harare.
M. Lesznyák, É.B. Hunyadi, and J. Csajbók, Influence of nutrient-and water-supply on the yield and protein yield of pea (Pisum sativum L.) varieties. Cereal Research Communications, 2007. 35(2): p. 729-732.
A. Cherinet, and A. Tazebachew, Adaptability of Field pea (Pisum Sativam L.) varieties under Irrigation at the Western Amhara Region, Ethiopia. International Journal of plant Breeding and Genetics, 2015. 9(2): p. 28-31.
W. Kebede, Shallot (Allium cepa var. ascalonicum) responses to nutrients and soil moisture in sub humid tropical climate. Unpublished thesis dissertation Swidish University of Agricultural Sciences, Agraria, 2003.
S. Bekele, and K. Tilahun, Regulated deficit irrigation scheduling of onion in a semiarid region of Ethiopia. Agricultural water management, 2007. 89(1-2): p. 148-152.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46676/ij-fanres.v6i3.494
Refbacks
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.