Performance evaluation of furrow irrigation water management practice under Wonji Shoa Sugar Estate condition, in Central Ethiopia

Belay Yadeta,Muluneh Yitayew,Mekonen Ayana,Tilahun Hordofa

doi:10.1186/s44147-022-00071-x

Abstract

Wonji Shoa Sugar Estate (WSSE) is one of the large-scale irrigation schemes in Ethiopia which was established in 1951. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of current furrow irrigation water management practices of WSSE. Performance evaluation of the current furrow irrigation was evaluated based on field experiment and the WinSRFR model. For this purpose, ten fields were selected from commonly used furrow lengths (32, 48, and 64 m). Application efficiency, distribution uniformity, and deep percolation performance indicators were used for evaluation. The performance of furrow irrigation showed poor performance, and as an improvement option, inflow rate and cutoff time were altered keeping furrow geometry constant. Advance and recession times for all furrow lengths were recorded and simulated using the WinSRFR model to obtain an accurate cutoff time of irrigation. The result obtained showed that the time allocated for all furrow lengths was not accurately determined. As an improvement option, both inflow rate and cutoff time changed and the performance of furrow irrigation significantly improved. By changing those decision variables, application efficacy and deep percolation performance indicators were significantly improved but distribution uniformity was not changed. In almost all statistical indices used, predicted performances by model were better than computed values in the existing situation. From the current result, it can be concluded that the inflow rate and cutoff time should be changed to attain good performance and increase furrow irrigation efficiency.

Highlights

Irrigation is an artificial application of water to crops by using gravity or pressure to convey water from the source to the field that is required by the crop to fulfill soil moisture deficit in the crop root zone
Performance evaluation of furrow irrigation under the Wonji Shoa sugarcane plantation is important since it is the dominant irrigation system for sugarcane production for a long period of time
The irrigation performance indicators considered in this study were application efficiency, distribution uniformity, and deep percolation

Summary

Introduction

Irrigation is an artificial application of water to crops by using gravity or pressure to convey water from the source to the field that is required by the crop to fulfill soil moisture deficit in the crop root zone. There are three major categories of irrigation systems which include surface irrigation, subsurface irrigation, and pressurized irrigation system (Tadele, 2019). Surface irrigation is widely used because of its low cost and energy requirement as compared to subsurface and pressurized irrigation systems (sprinkler and drip irrigation systems) which are usually more efficient than surface irrigation [11]. From the surface irrigation methods, furrow irrigation is mostly used from small- to large-scale irrigation systems. Maintaining efficiency and effective utilization of irrigation water on large-scale irrigation at an acceptable level is the major challenge in the management of irrigation systems. Poor performance of the furrow irrigation system resulted from incorrect dimensioning and inappropriate design furrow system [7]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion