Abstract
AbstractAssessing available water and land resources as well as their potential for surface irrigation use is vital for sustainable agricultural development and planning. Agricultural irrigation also plays a crucial role in ensuring food security and reducing poverty in Ethiopia. However, it is dominated by rain‐fed agriculture, with rainfall distribution and intensity vary spatially and temporally. Enhancing agricultural water management and irrigation has the potential to increase agricultural productivity. The objective of the study was to evaluate surface water potential and the irrigation water demand of Zage River sub‐watershed, which were estimated using hydrological model of Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and CROPWAT8.0 software, respectively. Slope, soil type, drainage densities, land use/cover, and river proximity were the factors utilized to determine irrigation land suitability. A weighted overlay was completed, with 17.32% of irrigable lands found to be highly suitable, 41.29% moderately suitable, 37.61% marginally suitable, and 3.78% not suitable. The SWAT model result gave very good model performance indicator values of NE = 0.773 and R2 = 0.872 for calibration and NE = 0.771 & R2 = 0.945 for validation. The SWAT model result showed a total of 33.248 million m3 of surface runoff generated annually. Compared with irrigation water demand of 21.068 million m3, this suggests the watershed has high surface water potential for surface irrigation for selected crop types of the watershed. The findings of this research are relevant to improving local water management policies and practices and enable stakeholders to make decisions that enhance agricultural productivity and sustainable agricultural practices and help ensure the food security of local farmers.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
