THE IMPACT OF IRRIGATION IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES ON WATER AND SALT BALANCE FOR THE IRRIGATED LAND IN NEKLA CANAL (EL-BEHIRA GOVERNORATE)

Abstract

Three representative mesqas, i.e. Arfa Mousa at the head, Elafeer2 at the middle and Elbanna at the tail of Nekla canal.Elbehara Gov were selected to evaluate the impact of the implementation of activities and processes of field irrigation system development on crop yield, water saving, water productivity, water and salt balance. Results indicated slight increases in yield of the tested crops either irrigated from head - Arfa Mouse, middle - Elafeer2 or Tail - Elbanna mesqas. The average increases were about 6.98, 5.99 and 7.19% respectively. The average increases in crop water productivity were about 19.9, 19.5 and 20.0 % for crops irrigated from the three mesqas respectively. The average increases in crop water productivity for wheat, rice, Egyptian clover, cantaloupe and watermelon pulp as affected by field irrigation system development were about 15.3, 21.5, 22.9, 18.5 and 20.6% respectively. The average increases in water saving were about 10.8, 11.2 and 10.6 % for crops irrigated from the three tested meqas respectively. The average increases in water saving for wheat, rice, Egyptian clover, cantaloupe and watermelon pulp as affected by field irrigation system development were about 7.36, 12.9, 13.7, 10.6 and 9.88% respectively. Results revealed that the net water balance (NWB) values decreased to about 87.6, 76.7 and 85.5% as affected by field irrigation system development relatve to values before development equal to 100 for wheat, rice and Egyptian clover respectively under irrigation from Arfa Mousa mesqa at the head of Nekla canal. Similar results were also observed for wheat, rice and Egyptian clover irrigated from Elafeer2 at middle, and Elbanna mesqa at tail of Nekla canal. The average amount of salts added into soil cultivated with wheat, rice, Egyptian clover, cantaloupe and watermelon pulp were 800, 2350, 1255, 848 and 454 kg/Fad respectively before and 702, 1939, 1026, 719 and 388 kg/Fad after field irrigation system development. The average amount of salts removed from soil cultivated with wheat, rice, Egyptian clover, cantaloupe and watermelon pulp were 722, 2456, 1337, 802 and 454 kg/Fad respectively before development and 567, 2887, 591, 598 and 309 kg/Fad after field irrigation system development. It could be concluded that field irrigation system development has a positive effect on water saving, crop yield, water productivity and reducing salt accumulation in crop growth medium because field irrigation system development prevent seepage and weed growth increases in the developed mesqas and made water available all the time in the mesqa.