Response of Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) to Deficit Irrigation in Raya Valley, Northern Ethiopia

Yemane B Mebrahtu

doi:10.7176/jees/10-6-04

Abstract

Water scarcity, erratic rainfall distribution and better management of water are a major constraint for the production of food in arid and semi-arid areas. Therefore, to cope up this problem deficit irrigation and application of irrigation systems are important concerns to achieve the goal of reducing irrigation water use and increase water productivity without significant yield loss under scarce water resources. A field experiment was carried out at Mehoni Agricultural Research Center, Raya Valley of Ethiopia, with objective of to identify the level of deficit irrigation which allow achieving optimum yield and to investigate the effect of alternate, fixed and conventional furrow irrigation method on yield and water productivity. The treatment were three deficit irrigation levels (50, 75 and 100% ETc), and three furrow irrigation methods (conventional, alternate and fixed furrow) were laid out in a random complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The highest yield was obtained from combination of convectional furrow irrigation method with 100% ETc, convectional furrow irrigation method with 75% ETc and alternative furrow irrigation method with 100% ETc respectively without statistically difference. The highest water productivity of tomato was recorded from alternative furrow irrigation method followed by fixed furrow irrigation method, while convectional furrow irrigation method was recorded the lowest water productivity. Therefore, it can be concluded that alternative furrow irrigation method with 100% ETC of irrigation level increased water productivity which solve a problem of water shortage without significance reduction in tomato yield. Keywords: Deficit irrigation, Furrow methods, Irrigation level, Tomato, Water productivity DOI: 10.7176/JEES/10-6-04 Publication date: June 30 th 2020

Highlights

Irrigation is one of the most important inputs for agricultural production
Crop water requirement of tomato The water requirement of tomato was computed for the growing season using the CROPWAT 8 computer program with climate, soil and crop input data from the study area The values of ETo estimated using CROPWAT model based on climate parameters need to be adjusted for actual crop ET
The crop water requirement of the tested crop is calculated by multiplying the ETc with crop coefficient (Kc)

Summary

Introduction

Because of the limited water and high levelof competition, most irrigators in Ethiopia, especially these at tail of a scheme, allocation of irrigation water to the field is below the maximum crop water requirement for maximum yield (Lorite et al, 2007). In the semi-arid areas of Ethiopia, water is the most limiting factor for crop production. In these areas where the amount and distribution of rainfall is not sufficient to sustain crop growth and development, an alternative approach is to make use of the rivers and underground water for irrigation. In an effort to improving water productivity, there is an increasing interest in judicious application of irrigation water, an irrigation practice which controls the spatial and temporal supply of water so as to promote growth and yield, and to enhance the economic efficiency of crop production

Objectives

Methods

Results