Abstract:
As population grows mainly in developing countries resulting in an increase in water scarcity particularly in arid
areas, irrigated agriculture is required to produce more food while using less water, and to do so without
degrading the environment. The extent of improvement of water management in arid lands involves very high
costs and irrigation methods that can help meet this challenge by giving growers greater control over the
application of water is desirable. Clay pot is an efficient and cheap irrigation method that does not require water
of high quality. Despite the significant efforts at Kapkuikui informal irrigation scheme to increase food
production using furrow irrigation method, production has been declining over time due to water scarcity and
fields abandoned as a result of salinity raising the need for improvement of the water productivity using an
environmentally sound irrigation method. The objective of the present study was to evaluate water use savings
under clay pot compared to furrow irrigation methods using field trials of maize and tomato crops and also soil
water balance techniques. In addition, analysis of the salinity of irrigation water and soil at the scheme was done.
Results indicate that the irrigation water sourced from springs at the scheme is saline with a salinity of 0.85g/l.
The clay pot system was found to be more efficient than the furrow irrigation method by saving 97.1% of
applied water for the maize crop and 97.8% for the tomato crop respectively. In terms of yield increases, the clay
system was more productive per unit of water than the furrow irrigation method. The maize grain yields was
32.2% higher than that under the furrow, while fresh fruit tomato yields was 43.7% higher in the clay pot system
than the furrow.
