Ingénierie des systèmes d’irrigation et de drainage

Effect of Drip and Furrow Irrigation at Different Irrigation Levels on Water Use Efficiency and Economics of Maize (Zea Mays L.) at Werer, Middle Awash, Ethiopia

Abstract

Fikadu Robi Borena, Teshome Seyoum

Agriculture is the main contributor to the Ethiopian economy. Water is a vital resource to sustain civilizations and pecuniary development and most importantly agriculture. The field experiment was conducted at Werer Agricultural Research center to evaluate the effects of drip and furrow irrigation under different irrigation levels on maize water use efficiency. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design where drip and furrow irrigations were assigned as the main plot and irrigation levels (100, 85, 70, and 55% of ETc) were assigned in the subplot arrangement with three blocks. The interaction effects of irrigation system and irrigation levels have shown a highly significant (p<0.01) effect on water use efficiency. The highest (2.38 kg/m³) and the lowest (0.81 kg/m³) water use efficiency were recorded from the plots treated with drip irrigation at 100% ETc and Alternative furrow irrigation at 100% ETc treatments, respectively.