Research Achievements, Challenges and Future Perspectives of Irrigation and Water Harvesting Research Program of Jimma Agricultural Research Center: A Review

Abstract

Due to spatial and temporal variability, rainfall rarely meets the required amount of water for plant growth, resulting in low agricultural production. Thus, for a sustainable increase in agricultural production and productivity, the use of irrigation is essential. Since its establishment, Jimma Agricultural Research has been conducting irrigation and water harvesting research for one and half a decade and has generated essential research findings for its mandate area. The objective of this review was to document the major achievements on coffee irrigation, challenges, and future prospects of the irrigation and water harvesting research program. The study was conducted by reviewing documents available on the web, interviewing the previous researchers who conducted the study, and also reviewing documents available in the library of the Jimma Agricultural Research Center. The major research activities conducted in the Jimma Agricultural Research Center under the irrigation and water harvesting program on coffee crops were: dry matter partitioning and physiological responses of Coffee Arabica varieties to soil moisture deficit stress seedling stage in southwest Ethiopia; growth response of Hararghie coffee accessions to soil moisture stress at seedling; sensitivity of coffee genotypes to drought induced by soil drying at early growth stages; growth and plant water relations of Arabica coffee in response to deficit irrigation; determination of optimal irrigation scheduling for coffee; and estimation and mapping of coffee water requirements using models. The major challenges were the lack of irrigation infrastructure, the lack of green houses and rain shelters, and the lack of laboratory equipment. Future irrigation research will focus on climate change, salinity management, ground water monitoring, watershed-based irrigation, modelling, and the application of more advanced technologies in relation to geographical information system and remote sensing.