Authors
Abstract
Drip irrigation is considered as a modern irrigation method compared to other methods where irrigation water supplied via pipes containing emitters to provide the plant with its water needs. This method is characterized by continuously and directly supplying water to the root zone and keep the moisture content as high level without exposing the plant to water stress that effect the productivity , unlike what happens with other methods were the water supplied in the form of bursts and infrequent periods.
The study was conducted in the Isshaqi irrigation project which is located in north of Baghdad in order to estimate the actual efficiency of the irrigation water consumption using drip irrigation and comparing it with furrow irrigation for winter and summer crops. The study involved measuring the supplied water to a group of fields parts of them where irrigated by furrow and the others by drip irrigation. In addition to that total crop production at the end of each season was measured for three consecutive seasons for the tested fields.
The results showed that there is a large difference in the water use efficiency of the agricultural production especially for summer crops where the obtained for eggplant and for the winter crops like cabbage and cauliflower where the yield efficiency was four times in drip irrigation as much with furrow irrigation. So, there was excess of water requirements were supplied to the farms, and this water losses went as deep percolation or it was evaporated .This amount of losses water reduced the water use efficiency. In the other side the increasing in the water use efficiency due to the using of drip irrigation leaded the farmers to apply the drip irrigation, and that cause to increase the cultivated area. The regression analysis of the field measurements appears that, there is a strong relationship between the yield and the irrigation water proportional to other factors that effect on the yield.
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