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Soil and Water Management in Spate Irrigation Systems in Eritrea, Which Is the Subject of This Thesis

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Soil and Water Management in Spate Irrigation Systems in Eritrea, Which Is the Subject of This Thesis Soilan dWate r Management inSpat e Irrigation Systems inEritre a Mehreteab Tesfai Hadera 2001 Promotor: Prof, dr.ir. L. Stroosnijder Hoogleraar in de erosie en bodem- en waterconservering Samenstelling promotiecommissie: Prof. dr. ir. E.M.A. Smaling (Wageningen Universiteit) Prof. dr. ir. P.C. Struik (Wageningen Universiteit) Prof. L. F. Vincent (Wageningen Universiteit) Dr. ir. J. de Graaff (Wageningen Universiteit) »No3^->?y^ Soilan dWate r Management inSpat e Irrigation Systemsi nEritre a Mehreteab Tesfai Hadera Proefschrift ter verkrijgingva nd egraa dva ndocto r opgeza gva nd erecto r magnificus vanWageninge nUniversiteit , Prof.dr .ir .L . Speelman inhe topenbaa r te verdedigen opdinsda g2 0maar t 2001 des namiddagst evie r uuri nd e Aula )ioq^jSi Wageningen University, ISBN 90-5808-388-8 Also published asTropica l Resource Management Papers,No . 36 (2001);ISS N 0926-9495 The completion ofthi s PhDthesi swa s financially supported byNUFFIC/MH O project and Wageningen University. Cover design PietKostens e and Mehreteab Tesfai Cover photos Mehreteab Tesfai This work is dedicated to - My family: Eminet, Senai and Samson and - My parents Abstract This thesis is about spate irrigation in Eritrea with special reference to soil and water management practises. Eritrea's coastal zone has been identified as area of substantial development potential for spate irrigation. Research was carried out in Sheeb spate irrigation area (as acas e study) with the objectives ofdescribin g the processes and functioning ofth e spate irrigation system, determining its development potential and constraints and recommending possible improved soil and water management techniques. A farming system survey revealed that the main problem of spate irrigation system is water shortage mainly caused by irregular rainfall in the highlands of Eritrea and the breaching of the irrigation structures ('agims' and 'misghas') by destructive big floods. The dominant types of soils in Sheeb area are the Fluvisols (spate irrigated soils) which are high in available phosphorus and available potassium but relatively low in total nitrogen and organic matter content. Nutrients are eroded from the highlands, transported by seasonal streams (wadis) and eventually deposited on spate irrigated fields via sedimentation. This annual sedimentation onth e fields enabled the farmers to harvest a crop without application of fertilisers since the last 100 years of spate irrigation practises. A nutrient balance study has revealed no soil mining. However, to improve the nitrogen and organic matter contents of the spate soils, farmers should use the manure that is produced by their livestock. With better levelling, farmers can maintain a uniform water distribution over their fields. Ofth e total area of Sheeb (8,000 ha), about 3,160h a of land was classified as highly and moderately suitable for spate irrigation. When the flood diversion structures (at wadis Laba and Maiule) are made more permanent anadditiona l 2,000 hao f land can be irrigated. In general, the spate irrigation production system is a relatively 'cost effective' system provided that the irrigation structures are properly maintained at low cost and the fields receive enough water and nutrients. Acknowledgements In February 1996, atea m ofprofessor s from (then) WageningenAgricultura l University, The Netherlands came to visit Eritrea to carry out a sector survey of the College of Agriculture and Aquatic Sciences (CAAS) of the University of Asmara (UoA) in accord with the linkage programme established between the Netherlands government and the government of Eritrea. After a field visit to Sheeb spate irrigation area (the research site),th e spate irrigation system was identified as an important research subject in the course of discussion with my supervisor, Prof. Dr.Ir .Le o Stroosnijder. Many thanks for his initiatives to involve me inthi s interesting subject and also for his invaluable and endless support in supervising the research. I also highly appreciate his intellectual guidance and suggestions, which helped me to producethi sthesi s in itspresen t form. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Netherlands Universities Foundation For International Co-operation (NUFFIC) for financing my research in Eritrea and training costs at Wageningen University. I gratefully acknowledge also the UoA and CAAS for granting meth e scholarship and for co-ordinating this sandwich research programme. I amgratefu l to all staff members ofErosion , Soilan d Water Conservation (ESWC) Group of Wageningen University, particularly to Jan de Graaff and Geert Sterk for critically reviewing some ofth e manuscripts and for their constructive comments and suggestions. And also to Dirk, Helena, Emiel, Max, Wim, and many others, and to the secretaries for their hospitality and assistance during my stay inTh eNetherlands . I amindebte d to all staff ofEaster n Lowlands Wadi Development Project (ELWDP)o fth e Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) in Eritrea for the assistance given to make use of aerial photographs, maps and reports of the project and also for providing me accommodation in Sheeb and also to the staff of the soil science laboratory of the Research department in the MoA for the analysiso f some ofth e soilssamples . My special thanks goes to Mr. Tekle Yemane in the Water Resources Department of the Ministry of Water, Land and Environment, who assisted me inprocessin g and analysis of the geo-reference data using the Arc/INFO and Arc/view, Geographic Information System (GIS) to produce the soilan d land use digital maps ofth e Sheebarea . I can not conclude without thanking the Sheeb community as a whole, in particular farmers like Ahmed Saleh Tekrurai from Bises village, Mohammed Dirar Meselem from Sheebkhetin village, and Ibrahim Suleman Bedirfrom Dimnadig e village for their endless co­ operation in organising farmers for interview, providing land for experimentation and their warmhospitalit y rightfrom th e onset ofthi s project. Finally, I wish to thank myparent s for their support during my school life and love to my wife Eminet and our children, Senai and Samson for their endurance and patience whenever I wasaway . Wageningen, December 2000 Table ofcontent s Abstract Acknowledgements Chapter 1.Genera l Introduction 1 1.1. Spate irrigation 3 1.2.Wh ystudyin g soilan dwate r management? 4 1.3.Researc h objectives and questions 5 1.4.Th e systemsapproac h 7 1.5. Outline ofth ethesi s 9 1.6. References 10 Chapter2 .Th eEritrea n SpateIrrigatio n System 11 2.1. Introduction 13 2.2. Principles ofspat e irrigation inEritre a 14 2.2.1. Water diversion and spreading 14 2.2.2. Construction and maintenance 16 2.3. Spate irrigation asa system 18 2.3.1. Description ofth eare a studied 18 2.3.2. History ofirrigatio n inShee b 21 2.3.3. The farming system 21 2.4. Making thetraditiona l spate irrigation systemmor e sustainable 23 2.5. References 23 Chapter3 . Participatory RuralAppraisa l of SpateIrrigatio n System 25 3.1. Introduction 27 3.2. PRAtechnique s 29 3.2.1. Techniques focusing on spatial aspectso fth e spate irrigation system 29 3.2.2. Techniques focusing on development trends 30 3.2.3. Techniques to analyse social features ofth e spate irrigation system 31 3.3. ThePR A findings and discussion 32 3.3.1. Spatialaspect s ofth e spate irrigation system 32 3.3.2. Development trends inspat e irrigation system 35 3.3.3. Socialaspect s ofspat e irrigation system 37 3.3.4. Ranking ofproblem s inth e spate irrigation system 38 3.3.5. Strengths and limitationso fPR A 39 3.4. Conclusions 42 3.5. References 43 Chapter4 .Farm-househol d Survey ofSpat eIrrigatio n System 45 4.1. Introduction 47 4.2. Survey methodology 49 4.2.1. The study area 49 4.2.2. Sampling 50 4.2.3. Data collection and analysis 51 4.3. The farm-household: resources, resources use and analysis 51 4.3.1. Farmhousehol d resources 51 4.3.2.Resourc e utilisation 57 4.3.3. Food security issues 61 4.3.4. Cropbudge t analysis 62 4.3.5. Livestock budget analysis 64 4.3.6. Whole farm analysis 66 4.4. Conclusions 67 4.5. References 68 Chapter5 .Soi lResource s ofSpat eIrrigatio n Schemes 70 5.1. Introduction 72 5.2. Methods andtechnique s 73 5.2.1. Field survey 73 5.2.2. Laboratory analysis 74 5.2.3. Soilclassificatio n and mapping 75 5.3. Soilso fth e Sheebare a 76 5.3.1. Soil formation factors 76 5.3.2. The soilmappin g units 79 5.3.3. Problems ofsoil so f Sheebare a 91 5.4. Conclusions 93 5.5. References 94 Chapter 6. Sedimentation Rate on Spate Irrigated Fields 96 6.1. Introduction 98 6.2. Materials andmethod s 100 6.2.1. Sitecharacteristic s 100 6.2.2. Measuring sedimentation rate 102 6.2.3. Soilphysica l analysis 104 6.3. Resultsan d discussion 104 6.3.1. Sedimentation rate 105 6.3.2. Strengths and limitations ofth epi nmetho d 108 6.3.3. Sediment harvesting impacts 108 6.4. Conclusions 109 6.5. References 110 Chapter 7. The Soil Nutrient Balance in Spate Irrigated Fields 112 7.1. Introduction 114 7.2.Method san d approach 116 7.2.1. Experimental site 116 7.2.2. Field experiment 117 7.2.3.Nutrien t Balance Approach (NBA) 118 7.3. Results 120 7.3.1. Field experiment 120 7.3.2. Quantification ofinput s 121 7.3.3. Quantification ofoutput s 121 7.3.4. Thenutrien t balance 122 7.4. Discussion 124 7.4.1. Comparing ofpractic e and theory 124 7.4.2. Strengths and weaknesses ofNB A 125 7.4.3. Improving soilfertilit y 126 7.5.Concludin g remarks 128 7.6.
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