Assessment of Suitable Areas for Home Gardens for Irrigation Potential, Water Availability, and Water-Lifting Technologies

Abstract

Abstract:The study was conducted in Lake Tana Basin of Ethiopia to assess potentially irrigable areas for home gardens, water availability, and feasibility of water-lifting technologies. A GIS-based Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) technique was applied to access the potential of surface and groundwater sources for irrigation. The factors affecting irrigation practice were identified and feasibility of water-lifting technologies was evaluated. Pairwise method and expert's opinion were used to assign weights for each factor. The result showed that about 345,000 ha and 135,000 ha of land were found suitable for irrigation from the surface and groundwater sources, respectively. The rivers could address about 1-1.2% of the irrigable land during dry season without water storage structure whereas groundwater could address about 2.2-2.4% of the irrigable land, both using conventional irrigation techniques. If the seven major dams within the basin were considered, surface water potential would be increased and satisfy about 21% of the irrigable land. If rainwater harvesting techniques were used, about 76% of the basin would be suitable for irrigation. The potential of surface and groundwater was evaluated with respect to water requirements of dominant crops in the region. On the other hand, rope pump and deep well piston hand pump were found with relatively the most (26%) and the least (9%) applicable low-cost water-lifting technologies in the basin.

Experimental Evaluation for the Impacts of Conservation Agriculture with Drip Irrigation on Crop Coefficient and Soil Properties in the Sub-Humid Ethiopian Highlands

“…Agriculture is the core driver for the economy of Ethiopia and long-term food security which supports about 85% of the population's livelihoods, and 43% of gross domestic product (GDP) [1][2][3]. However, the current farming practices in the nation are mainly traditional tillage using animals and hand tools; which resulted in the loss of soil fertility and crop productivity [4][5][6][7][8]. On the other hand, water is a valuable resource in food production, nevertheless, the competition for water is high among various sectors due to several reasons including population growth, climate change, and poor management of rainwater.…”

“…Ineffective on-farm irrigation management practices lead to poor water distribution, nonuniform crop growth, excessive leaching of soil nutrients all of which decrease water and crop productivity [25][26][27]. Conservation agriculture (CA) is found to be an effective strategy in the region to improve soil quality, water management, and crop yield [5,6,28]. Conservation agriculture (CA) is defined as minimal soil disturbance (no-till, NT) and year-round permanent soil cover (mulch) combined with rotation in time [29,30].…”

“…On the other hand, drip irrigation is considered as the most efficient water application technology and has the potential to improve water productivity [34,35]. Combining CA with drip irrigation is found to be an ideal approach to maximize crop production while conserving the environment [6,28,36,37]. Crop coefficient can be used as an indicator to measure the effectiveness of a particular soil and water management practices [38].…”

Experimental Evaluation of Conservation Agriculture with Drip Irrigation for Water Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…The current farming practice is traditional with poor soil and water management strategies resulting in soil degradation [12][13][14]. Soil degradation is one of the major causes of low agricultural productivity in the region [12,15]. On the other hand, the ever-increasing population demands a significant increase in food supply [16,17] and improvements in the nutritional wellbeing as malnourishment is also a serious challenge in the region [18].…”

“…Several studies including [24,25] indicated that improved water productivity refers to an increase in water sustainability and food security. Irrigation plays an essential role in addressing the high rainfall variability in the region [15,26] and increasing the cycle of crop production [27,28]. Irrigation development in SSA is limited to technologies with higher water use efficiency as water scarcity is a challenge.…”