Abstract
Irrigation is a common agricultural practice for farmers in the periphery of flowing rivers in Ethiopia. In the south west Ethiopia, fruits and vegetables are majorly produced under irrigation where the mode of irrigation is by pumping water from flowing rivers. Irrigated agriculture has only been linked to the availability of water in physical terms, while the quality of water is significantly important for sustainable agricultural production. A study was conducted to assess the water quality parameter of the Kulfo River in South West part of Ethiopia. Accordingly, the concentration of calcium cation (21 g/L) is the highest concentrated followed by sodium (8.3 g/L), magnesium (5 g/L) and potassium (1.8 g/L) is the least concentrated in the Kulfo River. The concentration level of the chloride ion has significantly (25 mg/L) increased from what it was reported (3 to 12 mg/L) in 2004. More importantly, both the electrical conductivity and the sodium adsorption ration are relatively low, implicating the water is non saline and can safely be used for irrigation. Key words: Electrical conductivity, irrigation water, pumping, sodium absorption ratio, river.
Highlights
Irrigation practices have played an important role in increasing agricultural production and productivity so as to meet the ever increasing food, fibre, etc. demands of the growing population
Irrigated agriculture has only been linked to the availability of water in physical terms while the quality of water is significantly important for sustainable agricultural production
The relatively higher concentration of the calcium cations can be linked with the existence of the calcium bicarbonate in the river (Ababu and Bern, 2014) which might have originated from basaltic formation of parent rock in the region
Summary
Irrigation practices have played an important role in increasing agricultural production and productivity so as to meet the ever increasing food, fibre, etc. demands of the growing population. Irrigated agriculture has only been linked to the availability of water in physical terms while the quality of water is significantly important for sustainable agricultural production. The latter has often been neglected, until the situation when most of irrigated agriculture is heavily dependent on lower water quality and less desirable sources elsewhere in the world (FAO, 1985; Islam et al, 2004). Salinity is a common problem facing farmers who irrigate in arid climates. This is because all irrigation waters contain soluble salts.
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