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Irrigation & Drainage Systems Engineering

ISSN: 2168-9768

Open Access

Volume 10, Issue 12 (2021)

Research Pages: 1 - 6

Optimization of Furrow Irrigation Decision Variables: The case of Wonji Shoa Sugarcane Plantation, Ethiopia.

Tokuma Adamu*, Mekonen Ayana and Gebremeskel Aregay

Surface irrigation type is one of the most widely used in the world due to its low cost investment. However it is complex methods of applying water to soil, because of extremely difficult to achieve good control over the highly variable nature of the movement of water across a soil surface and its infiltration into the soil over a season. This complexity leads low efficiency of the system because of failure in management and design. In this study, it is attempted to optimize furrow irrigation decision variables at Wonji sugar estate using field experiment and two simulation models. The hydraulic performance of the existing system was evaluated using two systematically selected furrows. Accordingly, an application efficiency of 43% and 25% were obtained. The performance of the system was evaluated as poor due to excess application of water and less management skills of irrigation application. One experimental site was selected at field number of 85 for optimization of decision variables. The field data (before irrigation, during irrigation and after irrigation event) of experimental site (at field number 85) was measured as input for models and simulated using the SIRMOD software and Win SRFR software package. Furrow length of 32m, 48m, and 64m, slope of 0.05%, 0.075% and 0.1%, and flow rate of 3l/ sec, 4l/sec and 5l/sec were analyzed with three replication using volume balance method and two simulation models. Therefore, from the current findings, the optimum decision variables that gave maximum application efficiency and distribution uniformity was slope 0.1%, furrow length 32m,and inflow flow rate 4 l/sec at cut-off time 15.79 minutes. Thus, to improve the performance of furrow irrigation practice, optimal furrow length, inflow rates and cut-off time found by this study could be adopted.

Research Article Pages: 1 - 4

Spatiotemporal Variability of Reference Evapotranspiration Estimation and Mapping for Arjo-Dedessa Sugar Factory and Its Surrounding

Etefa Tilahun*

Evapotranspiration, which represents a significant amount of moisture lost from a catchment, is an important parameter in the hydrologic cycle. However, it was challenging to determine the quantity due to the non-uniform distribution of meteorological stations and data in adequacy, which can be solved by an interpolation technique. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to estimate the spatiotemporal variability of reference evapotranspiration for the Arjo Dedessa sugar factory and its surroundings. ArcGIS, CROPWAT, and XLSTAT were the materials used. GIS was utilized to map the ETo variability, the XLSTAT2019 software was used to fill in the missing data, and the ETo was calculated using the CROPWAT. The data came from the Ministry of Water, Irrigation, Electricity, and Energy, as well as the National Meteorological Service Agency. Fourteen meteorological stations were identified, and data from 10 of them was selected for study after their quality was verified. The ETo map was created using the elevation and position of each station. Over the whole study area, the ETo values were interpolated using Kriging. The results show that the yearly spatial average daily ETo ranges from 3.67 millimetres to 4.65 millimetres of water depth. Because of the cold climate and heavy precipitation, the ETo value was lower at higher elevations. However, because of the warm temperature, it was higher in low-altitude places. Throughout the year, the monthly ETo temporal distribution has varied. During the summer, daily ETo values ranged from 3.10 to 3.39 millimetres, with a mean of 3.24 millimetres.

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