Evaluate the Effect of Low Cost Drip Irrigation on the Yield and Production Efficiency of Onion Crops
Abebe Kidus Ephrem
Citation :Abebe Kidus Ephrem, Evaluate the Effect of Low Cost Drip Irrigation on the Yield and Production Efficiency of Onion Crops International Journal of Research Studies in Agricultural Sciences 2018, 4(7) : 1-6.
Evaluate the yield and irrigation production efficiency of onion crops with various irrigation scheduling using low cost drip and surface irrigation was carried out on sandy loam soil and agro climatic conditions of Bahir dar using experimental plots in the compounds of pre Kg schools of SOS, the research was conducted during the dry season of 2014-2015. To estimate the crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling calculations, CropWat Windows program Version 4.2 which is recommended by FAO were used. The experiment was laid in two factor randomized block design (irrigation schedule X irrigation method) with three replications. The experiment consists of four treatments which are 50%, 100%, 150% and 200% percentage pan evaporation replenishment. Low cost drip irrigation at 150% crop evapotranspiration gave significantly higher onion yield (16.75 t /ha), as compared to other treatments and surface irrigation treatments. The overall result showed that low cost drip irrigation methods resulted in higher marketable yield whereas surface irrigation methods gave considerably lower yield. The seasonal water applied/irrigation level and marketable yield of onion exhibited a strong quadratic relationship which in turn can be used for allocating limited water resource within the crop under different irrigation methods. It was concluded that low cost drip systems is highly economical for onion crop in this region.