Economic impact of drip irrigation regimes on sorghum production in semi-arid areas of Tanzania

Abstract

The need for increasing crops yield production to justify economic returns, improve food security, sustain scarce water resources, and safeguard the environment under the challenges of climate change and variability demands the development of promising drip-irrigation regimes. Field trials were conducted in the semi-arid area of central Tanzania with the aim of assessing the impact of three drip-watering regimes on the production and economic returns from sorghum (Sorghum bicolor). The irrigation treatments were-irrigating early in the morning (EM), late in the evening (EL), and both early in the morning and late in the evening (ELE). Each treatment was replicated three times in a randomized complete block design. The maximum yield of 13.12 t/ha with an economic return of Tanzania shilling 6,675,900/= was obtained when sorghum was irrigated twice a day during the dry season. Although irrigating twice a day in the dry season resulted in higher yield, net income was higher (7,607,780/=) in the dry-wet season. The results indicate that irrigating early in the morning or late in the evening resulted in more yield than the rainfed condition. However, it was economically viable to irrigate twice a day because this had the benefit of generating higher economic returns in the study area.