Impact of Various Drainage Technologies on Yield and Yield Components of Wheat (Triticum aestivum), Improving Water Harvesting and Water Productivity Hailu Eyerusalem1, Temesgen Melese2, Abraham Thomas1,* 1Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture & Veterinary Sciences, Ambo University, Ethiopia, P.O. Box -19 2Researcher, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia *Corresponding author: drthomasabraham7@gmail.com (ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3241-5038)
Online published on 3 December, 2019. Abstract Vertisols account for about 70 percent of all highland soils with slopes between 0 and 8 percent in Ethiopia. The high clay content of the Vertisols is responsible for their heavy water logging in highland areas with abundant rainfall and low infiltration rates which imposes severe restrictions on the traditional agricultural use of these soils and only 25 percent are currently cropped, mainly using residual moisture. Much of this land is left fallow and subject to erosion during the heavy rains. This study evaluated the performance different drainage technologies for wheat (Triticum aestivum) and water use efficiency on field plot in 2015 at Ginchi district, west Shoa Zone of Oromia Regional State. Four treatments such as drainage technologies (Aybar BBM (Broad Bed Maker), Shaga, Shurube and control) were laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Traditional technologies has extended the duration of the growing period of wheat on average by 6 days from 93 days under the Aybar BBM to 99 days in control. Aybar BBM increased grain yield of wheat from 2318.21kg ha−1 from the control to 4652.45kg ha−1, while dry biomass was increased by 28% as compared to the control. Existing moisture chickpea (Cicer arietinum) was harvested and using Rain water harvesting in the pond root beet (Beta Vulgaris) and carrot (Daucus carota) were harvested as a triple cropping in the same field plot. Therefore, it was concluded that new drainage technologies in vertisols such as Aybar BBM re-enforced by water harvesting increased the gross crop yield and double as well as triple cropping can be achieved. Highlights Research advancements in drainage technologies like Aybar BBM will solve the problem of water logging during the rainy season and has substantial impact in enhancing wheat productivity in vertisols. Advancement of water harvesting techniques for a better utilization of the drained excess water for irrigation for a third crop is absolutely beneficial for enhancing productivity. Watershed approach to the application of the Aybar BBM technology would be more advantageous.
Top Keywords Vertisol management, Rain water harvesting, Wheat, Cropping practices, Aybar BBM. Top |