Cost-effective drainage performance assessment and field management options for sustainable environmental management under irrigated agriculture of Ethiopia

Irrigation is one of the means by which agricultural production can be increased to meet the growing food demands of the fast-growing population of the country and satisfy the country's economic demand. However, poor irrigation water management, and lack of proper implementation of drainage systems, substantial numbers of Irrigation schemes, especially in potentially susceptible areas are starting to suffer from these problems. The aim this study is to assess cost-effective drainage performance and field management options under the hot spot area of irrigated agriculture of Ethiopia. It has been observed that inadequate attention to drainage aspects of irrigation due to the absence of sound objective is challenging this untapped sub-sector and also unsustainable water management practices and limited technical and institutional capacity to expand and manage irrigation infrastructure is one of the prioritized bottlenecks. The result also revealed that salt affected surfaces have increased from 6% to 16% of the total land of Ethiopia in recent years. About 9% of the population lives in the areas affected by salinity. The semi-arid and arid lowlands and valleys in Ethiopia have major problems of salinity and alkalinity. About 44 million ha in 36% of the country’s total land is potentially susceptible to salinity problems. According to recent researches, out of the 44 million ha, 33 million ha has dominantly salinity problems, 8 million ha has combined salinity and alkalinity problems, and 3 million ha has dominantly alkalinity problems. The majority of schemes (small, medium, and large), poor drainage facilities, and water management practices, hence, give low yields (quite below the national average) with poor crop quality, and environmental damage. Such a very low yield, a poor crop quality and salinity could be attributed to poor drainage system at the plot or scheme’s level. It is evident that poor management of agricultural water management will play a significant role in poor drainage and salinity incidence. Therefore, there should be well organized and proper water management in the irrigated field.