Abstract:
Knowledgeoftheperformanceofexistingirrigationschemeshelpstoidentify
alternativesthatmaybebotheffectiveandfeasibleinimprovingsystem
performance.Thepurposeofthisstudywastoevaluatetheperformanceofthe
Meki-Ziwayirrigationschemeusingdifferentperformanceindicators
(application,storage,distribution,overallirrigationefficienciesandagricultural
andwaterusecomparativeperformanceindicators)usedasatool.Thestudy
hasbeenfocusedonidentifyingthebenefitsandconstraintsoftechnical,socioeconomicandenvironmentalaspectsoftheirrigationschemeInorderto
undertakethisresearchprimaryandsecondarydatawerecollected.Primary
dataincludecanalwaterflowmeasurement,measurementofirrigationwater
appliedtothreefarmersfields(fromthehead,middleandtailendwaterusers)
usingvolumetricmethod,moisturecontentdeterminationofthesoilandsemistructuredquestionnairesurveyandgroupdiscussion.Secondarydatasuchas
yearlypumpoperatinghouryieldperyear,areairrigatedpercropperyear,farm
gatepriceofcrops,andotherstudieslikedesigndocumentswerecollected.
Theresultindicatedthatapplicationandstorageefficiencyoftheirrigation
projectwere48.71%and61.74%.Distributionlosses,whichindicatesthe
amountofwaterlostduringtransportationofwaterfromthesourcetothefield
canalis45.55%.Theoverallirrigationefficiencyoftheschemeis25.06%.
Fromtheanalysesofthecomparativeperformanceindicators,theresultofthe•
ratiosofRWSandRISrangesfrom0.92to3.35and0.63to6.68.Outputper
croppedareaandperunitcommandareaoftheseasonsvarybetween
24,412.24birr/hato3,733.10birr/haand273.97birr/hato3579.70birr/ha
respectively.Theoutputperunitirrigationsupplyrangesfrom0.17to2.49
birr/m^.Outputperwaterconsumedvariesfrom0.62to4.41birrperm^.The
findingofquestionnairesurveyshowsthattherearemanytechnical,
management,andinstitutionalproblemsthatconstrainirrigationperformances.
Althoughirrigationiscrucialinincreasingfoodproduction;thegovernmenthas
xu
founditincreasingdifficulttofinancethecostofirrigationoperationand
management.Thishasledtorapiddeteriorationofinfrastructure,poor
managementandsubsequentwastageofwaterandadvancingwaterlogging
andsalinity.Poorsystemperformanceandthegovernmentinabilitytodo
somethingaboutithaveretardedtheeffortstoincreasefarmers'participationin
irrigation.Therefore,farmer'sinvolvementinirrigationplanningshouldbe
consideredfromthebeginning.
