Abstract:
Theobjectiveofwatermanagementinirrigationistoprovidesuitablemoisture
environmenttocroptoobtainmaximumyieldwithhighwateruseefficiency.The
increasingworldwideshortageofwaterresourcesrequirestheoptimizationof
Irrigationmanagementinordertoimprovecropwateruseefficiency.Thispaper
evaluatestheeffectofpartialrootzonedrying(PRD)onyieldandwateruse
efficiencyofpotato.TheanalysiswasbasedonAgronomicparameters(plantgrowth
andyieldrelateddata)andsoilmoisturewhichwerecollectedduringfourmonths
(January2007-April2007)offieldworkataplacenearAdetAgriculturalResearch
CenterinAmharaRegion.Theanalysiswasperformedusingstatisticalsoftware,
MSTATC.Appropriatestandarderrorsofthemeans(SE)andleastsignificant
differences(LSDs)atP=0.01andP=0.05werecalculated.Theresponseofeach
agronomicparametertothreewateringlevels(100%,75%and50%oftherequired
amount)andthreefurrowwaterapplicationmethods(conventional(CFI),fixed(FFI)
andalternatefurrowirrigation(AFI))andtherelativemoisturestatusundereach
treatmenthasbeen.evaluated.Intermsofyield,fruitsizeandquality,themaximum
yield,tuberweightanddrymattercontentwereachievedwithPRDtreatedplots.It
wasfoundthatascomparedtothecontrol(i.e.Conventionalfurrowirrigationwith
100%irrigationrequirementlevel),PRDtreatedpotatoplotsunderhalf(50%
irrigationrequirementlevel)resultedin23.6%yieldreductionandbettersoilmoisture
status.Inaddition,theWUEshowedanincreasefrom4.15kg/m^(forCFIat100%
irrigation)to5.44kg/m^(forAFIat50%Irrigationlevel)whichareabout31.1 %
improvement.Inthisexperiment,upto41.7%savingwaspracticallyachievedby
adoptingAlternateFurrowIrrigation(AFI).^''-'7 7;- 5vie^ '5
