EVALUATIO NO FTH EEFFEC TO FALTERNAT EFURRO W IRRIGATIO NO NYIEL DAN DWATE RUS EEFFICIENC YO FPOTAT O

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