Abstract
Abstract The study evaluated the effect of irrigation management techniques using anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) effluent on the growth and yield of rice. It was hypothesized that irrigation techniques with ABR effluent have a significant effect on the growth, yield of rice, water productivity (WP) and water balance (WB). The experimental setup was a randomized complete block design for 2017 and 2018 cropping seasons, three treatments each with three replications. The treatments were alternating wetting and drying (AWD), continuous flooding irrigation (CFI) and wetting without flooding (WWF). The effect of irrigation management techniques was significant (P < 0.05) for the 2017 season but insignificant (P > 0.05) in 2018 on the yield. The effect of irrigation treatments on WP was significant (P < 0.05). The effects were not significant (P > 0.05) on the plant height, leave area index (LAI) and number of tillers per plant. However, the effect was significant (P < 0.05) on the number of panicles per plant. The effects of irrigation treatments were significant (P < 0.05) on number of irrigation, amount of irrigation, total water use and daily field WB. In conclusion, the result proved the acceptability of the hypothesis. AWD irrigation with ABR effluent should be encouraged among rice farmers.
Highlights
Water is a valuable resource, yet it is an insufficient resource in many nations
The highest quantity of water was recorded under continuous flooding irrigation (CFI) treatments because of the continuous anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) effluent application in order to achieve ponding, unlike the intermittent application characterised by AWD treatments
The results of this study have shown the effects of ABR effluent irrigation water management techniques on growth and yield of rice crop
Summary
Water is a valuable resource, yet it is an insufficient resource in many nations. There is a need to preserve, protect and conserve fresh water and access lower quality water for irrigation (Al-Rashed & Sherif 2000). Different human activities, which include disposal of effluent into both surface and ground water resources, coupled with increasing population, have made appropriate management of water resources a very complex requirement throughout the world. An increase in the water demands by the urban populations is reducing the fresh water available for agricultural purposes, with a rise in associated costs. To counter the continuous increase in irrigation water needs for growing food and meeting fibre requirements of an increasing populace, it is imperative to enhance irrigation water efficiency to guarantee sustainable agriculture. According to Renner (2012), surface irrigation is the application of
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