Effects of furrow dimensions on water productivity and yield of onion at small scale Irrigation Ilu Gelan district West Shoa Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted at the Ilu Gelan district Western Shewa zone of Oromia Regional State to evaluate the impacts of furrow dimensions on yield and water productivity of onion. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three treatments replicated four times. The experimental treatments including farmer practice or T1 (farmer practice with top width of 23 cm, bottom width of 13 cm and depth of 11 cm without determined flow rate), T2 (Furrow with top width of 45 cm, bottom width of 20 cm and depth of 12 cm with determined flow rate) and T3 (Furrow with top width of 35 cm, bottom width of 14 cm and depth of 10 cm with determined flow rate) having a plot size of 8 m × 5 m with spacing of 0.5 m × 1 m between plots and replications respectively. The highest application efficiency of (75.87%) was recorded under treatment T2 and the lowest application efficiency of (56.17%) was recorded from T1 that is, farmer practice when compared with other treatments. The highest distribution uniformity of (89%) was recorded from treatment T2 and lowest (81%) was from treatment T1. In terms of water productivity and yield of onion the highest values of 5.2 kg/m3 and 1952 kg/ha were recorded from T2 respectively. Similarly, lowest values 3.11 kg/m3 and 15088 kg/ha were obtained from T1 respectively. There were significance differences in plant height among all treatments at significance level of 5%. The highest (41.525 cm) was recorded from T2 and the lowest (39.275 cm) was obtained from T1. Further research covering all soil types is recommended to be more inclusive. Key words: Furrow irrigation, furrow dimension, grain yield, irrigation efficiency, onion, water productivity.