Modeling the potential of drip irrigation in closing the yield gap of maize using aquacrop.

Abstract

Basing on my research results, it is clear that drip irritation is an ideal intervention that can be adopted to completely close the yield gap of maize in Uganda. Considering both the climatic data for 10 consecutive years (from 2012-2021) and soil data of the study area, aquacrop generated irrigation schedule as below: When: Depletion of 15mm Depth: To F.C It also considered a water quality of 0.5ds/m. High level of efficiency and effectiveness of the system is achieved under good farming and field management practices which include the following: ➢ Good water quality(0.3-1ds/m) ➢ No soil fertility stress ➢ No soil surface cover(no mulches) ➢ No runoff preventing practices. ➢ Very good weed management (5% relative weed cover) Aquacrop generated the canopy size of 5.00cm2/plant and plant density of 300000plants/ha. Aquacrop finally determined the dry yield of maize and it was found to be at an average of 9.2ton/ha. However, optimum results can be achieved when using perfect water quality (0.0-0.2ds/m) and perfect weed management (0% relative weed cover) in addition to the above conditions.