Crop water requirement and irrigation scheduling of dry season irrigated crops in Pawe district, lowland hot humid area of Ethiopia

Knowledge of irrigation water requirements and irrigation time schedules improves irrigation water management and crop productivity in the field. The CROPWAT model calculates the ETo, CWR, and IRs to develop the irrigation schedules under different administration conditions and water supply plans. The objective of this study was to determine the crop water requirement of tomato, onion and soybean crops and their irrigation scheduling under local climate condition of Pawe district. Local climate, crop type and soil data were used as input data to determine crop water requirement (CWR) and irrigation scheduling. The finding of this study was crop water requirements of tomato, onion and soyabean were 547.7, 362.8 and 337 mm respectively per season on black clay soil of Pawe district. The obtained irrigation scheduling were twelve irrigation schedules for tomatoes, elven for onion and five for soybean. The study will help to improve the management of water resources and loss of crop productivity. This study can be used as a reference for decision-making for future irrigation scheme planning and irrigation water development of Pawe district.