Irrigation Water Management and Crop Production
Agriculture being a key element of the national economy is challenged by variety of problems in development planning. Among these the major ones are climatic changes, topographic constraints, population pressure, ecological degradation & low level of technological advancement, so it needs good potentials of agricultural development. One of the mitigation to reduce challenges of this development is Irrigation practices Looking at this Irrigation Project area, it is with trace amount of rainfall over the year, this does have direct impact on human & cattle population, so it has to be supported by irrigation. Residents of the area develop Teff, Maize & sorghum though the available rain is not promising to harvest yield that even can feed few months. There is no promising grazing area for the cattle of the area too. Irrigation from its very nature has the capacity to solve animal feeds. The methodology used in this development study was aimed at plainly defining and describing the agronomic situation of the area and out lining the major crop production constraints and developing recommendation for implementation. Primary and secondary data were collected from the Kebele development agents, farmers and Wareda agricultural and development office using checklists through group discussion and key informant interview on crop production, cropping pattern, farming practice and production constraints. Crop water requirements of crops are computed using crop wat 4 windows model. In general, as a conclusion the agro-climatic condition of the project site, the suitability of the soil for crop production, physical feature of the command area and the availability of irrigation water are suitable for development of irrigation. Despite the above facts, the sustainability of the project is very much dependent on the full participation of the beneficiaries in all aspects of the project implementation. The participatory approach will create a sense of responsibility and ownership and greatly contributes to the success of the irrigation schemes constructed in previous years.
Published by: Ebissa G. K
Author: Ebissa G. K
Paper ID: V3I3-1403
Paper Status: published
Published: May 31, 2017
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