The Application Research Of Ridge-furrow With Film Mulch Cultivation System On Maize Production And Water Use Efficiency In Melkassa, Ethiopia

Poor yield of crops in Ethiopia has long been limited by insufficient and erratic rainfall severely. Three field experiments were conducted at Melkassa Agricultural Research Centerduring two growing seasons in 2012-2013.Andthe object to exploredwhether the ridge and furrow withfilm mulching canimprove soil water use efficiency (WUE), crop yields, and farmers’ income. The drip irrigational experiment was constituted by the combination of three mulching treatments[no mulch as control(CK), black film mulch(BM), clear filmmulch(CM)] with three drip irrigation levels[low irrigation with 357 mm (LD), middle 435 mm (MD), high 515 mm (HD)], respectively. The furrow irrigational experiment was constituted by the combination of two mulching treatments[no mulch (CK), clear film mulch (CM)] with three furrow irrigation levels [low furrow irrigation with 484 mm (LF), middle 674 (MF) and high 865 (HF)], respectively. The mulching experiment was constituted by the combination of four kinds of mulching treatments [no mulch (CK), straw(teff:wheat 3:1,4t/ha)mulch (SM), clear film mulch (CM) and black film mulch (BM)] with two farming ways [ridge and furrow farming(R) and flat farming (F)], respectively.The grain yields and WUE for film-mulching treatments in three experiments were significantly (P<0.05) higher than in the corresponding control treatments and straw mulching treatments, except the treatments of low and middle drip irrigation, and there was no significant difference between black film and clear film mulching treatments. Compared to the corresponding control treatment, the highest grain yield (6024 kg/ha) and WUE (11.7 kg ha-1 mm-1) were recorded in BM-HD, has been increased 69.9% and 69.6% in the drip irrigation, respectively; the highest grain yield (8206 kg/ha) and WUE (15.0 kg ha-1 mm-1) were found in CM-MF and CM-LF in the furrow irrigation, has been increased 66.1% and 76.5%, respectively; the highest grain yield (8523 kg/ha) and RUE (11.2 kg ha-1 mm-1) were recorded in R-CM in rainy season, respectively. In addition, the filmmulching also can effectively shorten the growth period of maize 5-11 days than the control and straw mulching treatment, but no significant difference between the straw and control treatments. The highest net income of three experiments was found in BM-HD (14 USD ha-1),CM-MF (1497 USD ha-1) and RCM (1665.28 USD ha-1), respectively.