A field experiment was conducted at Werer, Middle Awash Valley during the dry season of the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 to investigate the effects of mulching materials and furrow irrigation methods on onion yield and water productivity under semi-arid conditions. Split plot design with three replications, in which the irrigation methods (Conventional, Fixed and Alternate Furrow) were assigned to the main plot and the three mulching materials (no mulch, wheat straw and white plastic mulch), were to the sub-plot. Results indicate that marketable onion bulb yield and water use efficiency were affected by the main effect of furrow irrigation methods and mulching materials (p< 0.05). But the interaction of irrigation methods and mulch had no significant effect on marketable onion bulb yield and water use efficiency. The conventional furrow irrigation (10081.52kg ha-1) and wheat straw mulch (12121.63 kg ha-1) resulted in the maximum marketable bulb yield. The highest water use efficiency (3.27 kg/m3) was obtained from alternate furrow irrigation method with straw mulch. This suggests that under limited irrigation water, alternate furrow irrigation along with wheat straw mulch minimize evaporation loss; maximize water productivity and sustain onion production at Amibara and similar agro-ecology and soil type.

1. Integrated Effect of Mulching Materials and Furrow Irrigation Methods on Yield and Water use Efficiency of Onion (Allium cepa l.) at Amibara, Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia
Integrated Effect of Mulching Materials and Furrow
Irrigation Methods on Yield and Water use Efficiency of
Onion (Allium cepa l.) at Amibara, Middle Awash Valley,
Ethiopia
*Nigusie. A1, Wondimu. T2, Jemal. M3, Fikedu. R5, Kebede. N5
1, 2,3,4,5 Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, P. O. Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
*Corresponding Author Email: nibhoney@gmail.com
A field experiment was conducted at Werer, Middle Awash Valley during the dry season of the
2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 to investigate the effects of mulching materials and furrow
irrigation methods on onion yield and water productivity under semi-arid conditions. Split plot
design with three replications, in which the irrigation methods (Conventional, Fixed and Alternate
Furrow) were assigned to the main plot and the three mulching materials (no mulch, wheat straw
and white plastic mulch), were to the sub-plot. Results indicate that marketable onion bulb yield
and water use efficiency were affected by the main effect of furrow irrigation methods and
mulching materials (p< 0.05). But the interaction of irrigation methods and mulch had no
significant effect on marketable onion bulb yield and water use efficiency. The conventional
furrow irrigation (10081.52kg ha-1
) and wheat straw mulch (12121.63 kg ha-1
) resulted in the
maximum marketable bulb yield. The highest water use efficiency (3.27 kg/m3
) was obtained from
alternate furrow irrigation method with straw mulch. This suggests that under limited irrigation
water, alternate furrow irrigation along with wheat straw mulch minimize evaporation loss;
maximize water productivity and sustain onion production at Amibara and similar agro-ecology
and soil type.
Keywords: Onion, mulching materials, irrigation methods.
INTRODUCTION
Agriculture is the largest freshwater user on the planet, as
of the country the off season crop (under irrigation)
constitutes much of the area under onion production
(Nigussie et al., 2015). The national onion yield average is
about 9.28 ton/ha (CSA, 2018). This is far below the
world’s average consuming more than two thirds of total
withdrawals (Gan et al., 2013). In many parts of the world,
irrigation water has been over-exploited and over-used
(Chai et al., 2014), and freshwater shortage is becoming
critical in the arid and semiarid areas of the world
(Forouzani and Karami, 2011). Rapidly growing
population, food insecurity, climate change and rainfall
variability (spatial and temporal) have secured irrigated
agriculture a prominent position on the country’s
development agenda.
Onion is one of the most economically important among
the root crops cultivated in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, onion is
produced in many parts of the country by small farmers,
private growers and state enterprise (Lemma and
Shimelis, 2003). In the many are, which is about 18.8
ton/ha (Hanci, 2018). The decrease in crop yield in semi
arid region was due to increased evapotranspiration (ETo)
that results from increased temperatures (Kassie et al.,
2015; Muluneh et al., 2015).
Mulching is one management practice which can be used
to saves water by preventing surface evaporation,
suppressing weeds, regulates soil surface temperatures,
improves overall soil quality by increasing organic matter
of the soil, stimulating soil life, increasing nutrient
Research Article
Vol. 8(2), pp. 278-284, December, 2020. © www.premierpublishers.org. ISSN: 2326-3997
World Research Journal of Agricultural Sciences

2. Integrated Effect of Mulching Materials and Furrow Irrigation Methods on Yield and Water use Efficiency of Onion (Allium cepa l.) at Amibara, Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia
Nigusie et al. 279
availability and increase crop yield (Diver, et al., 2012 and
Patil Shirish et al., 2013).
Mulching proves to be beneficiary though increment in soil
moisture, reduction in soil erosion, maintenance of soil
temperature etc. It helps in improvise in soil structure, soil
fertility and soil biological regime. Though also mulching is
having many advantages it shows some limitations as it
may harbour some pests and diseases.
Mulching proves to be beneficiary though increment in soil
moisture, reduction in soil erosion, maintenance of soil
temperature etc. It helps in improvise in soil structure, soil
fertility and soil biological regime. Though also mulching
is having many advantages it shows some limitations
as it may harbour some pests and diseases.
On other hand, fixed and alternative furrow irrigation
techniques have been used by many researchers, they
found that both of them led to increase water use
efficiency (WUE) and reduce evaporation as compared to
the furrow irrigation method, (Li et al., 2007 and Abd-El-
Halim, 2013). Therefore the present study was undertaken
to evaluate the effect of mulching materials and
appropriate furrow irrigation method that enhance yield
and water use efficiency of irrigated onion.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Description of the Study Area
The experiment was conducted in the research station of
Werer Agricultural Research Centre for three dry seasons
of 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively.
Geographically the experimental site is located at 09°13 ′–
09°50 ′ N and 40°05 ′– 40°25 ′E. with an altitude of 750 m
ASL. The soil in the experimental field was classified as a
clay textural class. The local climate is semi-arid with an
average annual rainfall of 589 mm, of its distribution is
weak bi-modal received small rains from March to April
and main rains from July to September (Figure 2). The
mean monthly minimum temperature is 15°C in December,
whereas the mean monthly maximum temperature is
38.4°C in June. According to long term climatic data the
monthly evapotranspiration is greater than monthly rainfall
(Figure 2). This indicates irrigation is the paramount
important to sustain crop production in the area.
Table 1: Physical characteristics of soil at the experimental site
Depth Sand Silt Clay Texture BD FC PWP TAW
Cm % % % - g/cm3 Wgt.% Wgt.% mm/m
0-30 10.8 32 57.2 Clay 1.29 40 24 206.4
30-60 12.8 32 55.2 Clay 1.30 39.5 23 214.5
Figure 1: Long term maximum and minimum temperature of Werer Agricultural Research Center (WARC) (1987-
2019)

3. Integrated Effect of Mulching Materials and Furrow Irrigation Methods on Yield and Water use Efficiency of Onion (Allium cepa l.) at Amibara, Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia
World Res. J. Agric. Sci. 280
Figure 2: Mean monthly rainfall and evapotranspiration from 1987 to 2019 of the study area.
Experimental Design and Procedure
The treatments were arranged in a split-plot design with
three irrigation water application methods: Fixed furrow
irrigation (FFI) means that irrigation is fixed to one of the
two neighboring furrows, alternate furrow (AFI) means that
alternate wetting and drying opposite furrows and
conventional furrow irrigation (CFI) means irrigating all
furrows during consecutive watering as main plots factor
and two mulch materials (straw and plastic) and control as
no mulch as subplots factor. Each sub-plots (25 m2) having
6 furrows with 0.6m apart and 5 m long. There were 3.6
and 1.8 m distance as a border line between the main-plots
and sub-plots, respectively. The treatment combinations
were indicated in Table 2.
Table 1: Experimental treatment combinations
Wheat straw mulch with a rate of 6 ton ha-1 and white
plastic mulch 30 microns thickness was used as mulching
material in the subplot and applied uniformly to the
experimental plots at the time of transplanting. An onion
seed of “Adama Red” variety was used as test crop. The
seeds were sown in the well prepared nursery seed bed.
The five week old onion seedlings from the raised nursery
bed were transplanted in the afternoon to avoid
transplantation shock. The transplanting was done in row
at plant spacing of 10 cm between plant and 30 cm
between rows. All agronomic practices were done
according to the recommendation made for the area.
The total available water (TAW) in mm, stored between FC
and PW of soil was determined by using the following
equation below:
𝑇𝐴𝑊 = (𝐹𝐶 − 𝑃𝑊𝑃) ∗ 𝐷𝐵 ∗ 𝐷𝑧 (1)
Where; FC= field capacity, PWP= permanent wilting point,
BD= bulk density of the soil in gm cm-3, and Dz = effective
root zone depth in mm.
The RAW is the amount of water that crops can extract
from the root zone without
experiencing any water stress. For maximum crop
production, the irrigation schedule should be fixed based
on RAW. Since onion is sensitive to water deficit, for high
yield, soil water depletion should not exceed 25% of the
TAW (ρ=25%) (Doorenbos and Kassam, 1979). Thus
RAW was computed from the expression:
RAW = P ∗ TAW (2)
Where; RAW in mm, ρ is in fraction for allowable soil
moisture depletion for no stress (25%) and TAW is total
available water between FC and PWP in mm.
The permissible soil moisture depletion / RAW was taken
as 100% ETc for conventional furrows and a half of
conventional were applied to alternate and fixed furrows.
The net irrigation requirement was calculated from a
simplified water balance equation as:
(3)
0.0
50.0
100.0
150.0
200.0
250.0
300.0
RFandevapotranspiration
Month
Rainfall ETo
Treatments
Main plots Subplots
Alternate Furrow Irrigation
Wheat Straw Mulch (dry)
Plastic Mulch (white)
No Mulch
Fixed Furrow Irrigation Wheat Straw Mulch (dry)
Plastic Mulch (white)
No Mulch
Conventional Furrow
Irrigation
Wheat Straw Mulch (dry)
Plastic Mulch (white)
No Mulch (control)

4. Integrated Effect of Mulching Materials and Furrow Irrigation Methods on Yield and Water use Efficiency of Onion (Allium cepa l.) at Amibara, Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia
Nigusie et al. 281
Where NIR is net irrigation water requirement (mm), ETc
is crop water requirement (mm) and Pe is effective rainfall
(mm).
The effective rainfall was estimated using dependable rain
(FAO/AGLW formula) method (Allen et al., 1998) as:
(4)
(5)
Where Pe is the effective rainfall (mm) and P is rainfall
(mm/month).
Furrow irrigation application efficiencies normally vary
from 45-60% (Bakker et al., 1999). In this experimental
setup, water was applied with precise measurement;
furrows were short and end-dikes therefore, a higher value
of application efficiency (60%) was used and the gross
irrigation requirement was obtained using the following
equation:
(6)
Where GIR is gross irrigation requirement (mm), NIR is net
irrigation requirement (mm) and Ea is application efficiency
(%).
The gross irrigation amount of water estimated was
diverted to the furrow using calibrated Parshall flume with
3 inch dimension. The time required to deliver the desired
depth of water into each furrow was calculated using the
equation below:
(7)
Where T is application time (min), d is gross depth of water
applied (cm), W is width (m), L is length (m) of the wetted
furrows of the experimental plot, and q is flow rate
(discharge in l/s).
Water Use Efficiency
Irrigation water use efficiency was estimated as a ratio of
grain yield to the total water applied (GIR) through the
growing season and it was calculated using the following
equation (Zwart and Bastiaanssen, 2004).
WUE =
𝑌𝐿𝐷
𝐺𝐼𝑅
(8)
Where IWUE is Irrigation water use efficiency (kg/m³),
YLD is onion yield (kg/ha) and GIR is the gross irrigation
requirement (m3/ha).
Statistical Analysis
The data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA)
using SAS version 9.3. Treatment means were compared
using the least significant difference (LSD) at 5% level of
probability.
RESULT AND DISCUSION
Marketable bulb yield
The overall mean values of bulb yield of onion showed that
statistically there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in
mean bulb yield of onion among different furrow irrigation
water application methods (Table 3). Significantly higher
mean marketable bulb yield of (10081.52 kg ha-1) onion
was obtained from onion grown under conventional furrow
irrigation method and the lower (6843.30 kg ha-1) was
recorded from onion grown under fixed furrow irrigation
method. The results of this experiment indicated that
conventional furrow irrigation method gave 32.12%, higher
marketable bulb yield as compared to fixed furrow
irrigation method. The substantial grain yield increase in
the conventional furrow irrigation method might be due to
full application of irrigation water could be attributed to the
increment in vegetative growth, which associated with
increment bulb yield. The result of the current study is in
agreement with the result of Rop et al. (2016) who reported
that yield decreased with increasing water stress
significantly. Likewise, Narayanan and Seid (2011)
obtained maximum yield from conventional furrow
irrigation (irrigation water application of 100% crop water
requirement) than the alternate and fixed furrow irrigation
methods.
On the other hand, different types of mulch significantly
influenced on marketable bulb yield of onion (Table 3).
Wheat straw mulch gave a higher mean of marketable bulb
yield (12121.63 kg ha-1), while plastic mulch recorded
lower mean of marketable bulb yield (4289.54 kg ha-1).
Hence, in wheat straw mulch marketable bulb yield was
more by 26.08% over no mulch. Field observations during
the trials indicated that onion under wheat straw mulch was
more stable and actively vegetative growth may have led
into bulb formation than plastic and no mulch. Khaledian
et al. (2011) indicated that crop yield could also be
increased because of the improvements in soil physical
properties and fertility under straw mulching. These results
are also fully supported by Ramalan et al. (2010) who
reported that marketable onion bulb yield was significantly
higher under straw mulch as compared to plastic and no
mulch. Likewise Perez et al. (2004) and Samuel et al.
(2018) reported that the highest yield was obtained from
wheat straw mulch and the lowest from plastic mulch.

5. Integrated Effect of Mulching Materials and Furrow Irrigation Methods on Yield and Water use Efficiency of Onion (Allium cepa l.) at Amibara, Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia
World Res. J. Agric. Sci. 282
Table 3: Main effects of furrow irrigation method and mulch on onion marketable bulb yield.
Treatments Marketable bulb yield (kg ha-1)
Cropping season Combined mean
2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019
Irrigation
Methods
CFI 11056.59 9106.44 10081.52 10081.52a
AFI 8647.67 8245.48 8446.57 8446.57b
FFI 7390.19 6296.41 6843.30 6843.30c
CV (%) 10.4
LSD (0.05) 906.51
Mulch Straw 14669.00 9574.26 12121.63 12121.63a
No mulch 10374.19 7546.26 8960.22 8960.22b
Plastic 2051.26 6527.81 4289.54 4289.54c
CV (%) 15.2
LSD(0.05) 707.37
Year*Method*Mulch NS
NS= Non-significant, CFI= Conventional furrow irrigation, AFI= Alternate furrow irrigation, FFI= Fixed furrow irrigation,
CV= Coefficient of variation; LSD=Least significant difference.
Water use efficiency
There was a significant difference in water use efficiency
between the interaction effect of different furrow irrigation
methods and mulching materials (Table 4). Among the
used treatments the highest water use efficiency of 3.27
kg m-3 was recorded from onion grown under alternate
furrow irrigation method with straw mulch and the lowest
water use efficiency 0.84 kg m-3 was recorded from onion
grown under fixed furrow irrigation method with plastic
mulch application. Crop water use efficiency was
significantly higher under alternate furrow irrigation with
straw mulch as compared to other treatments because
less volume of irrigation water used under alternate furrow
irrigation together with save water, regulate soil
temperature and improve soil organic matter of straw
mulch produce more onion bulb yield with less water
results highest water use efficiency. This result is in
agreement with the finding of Yemane et al. (2018) who
obtained highest water use efficiency from the alternate
furrow irrigation system. On the other hand Mandefro and
Quraishi (2015) reported maximum water use efficiency
from wheat straw mulch. Similar finding were also reported
on potato yield that higher water use efficiency was
obtained at alternate furrow irrigation water application
technique under straw mulch (Samuel et al., 2018).
Table 4: Interaction effects of furrow irrigation
methods and mulching materials on water use
efficiency of onion.
Treatments Water use efficiency
(Kg/m3)
Alternate furrow with straw mulch 3.27a
Fixed furrow with straw mulch 2.84b
Alternate furrow with no mulch 2.40c
Fixed furrow with no mulch 1.97d
Conventional furrow with straw
mulch
1.94d
Conventional furrow with no mulch 1.51e
Alternate furrow with plastic mulch 1.29e
Fixed furrow with plastic mulch 0.84f
Conventional furrow with plastic
mulch
0.70f
CV (%) 7.6
LSD (0.05) 0.27
Means within a column followed by the same letter are not
significantly different at 5% level of significance. NS = Non-
significant, CV = Coefficient of variation, LSD = Least
significant difference.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the obtained results of this study it could be
concluded that the alternate furrow irrigation technique
could be used as on-farm irrigation strategy for maximizing
crop water use efficiency in areas where irrigation is
essential. Straw mulch should be used alongside with
alternate furrow irrigation technique to minimize
evaporation loss, maximize water use efficiency and
sustain the onion production at werer and other similar
agro ecology.
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7. Integrated Effect of Mulching Materials and Furrow Irrigation Methods on Yield and Water use Efficiency of Onion (Allium cepa l.) at Amibara, Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia
World Res. J. Agric. Sci. 284
Accepted 3 November 2020
Citation: Nigusie A, Wondimu T, Jemal M, Fikedu R, Kebede N (2020). Integrated Effect of Mulching Materials and Furrow
Irrigation Methods on Yield and Water use Efficiency of Onion (Allium cepa l.) at Amibara, Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia.
World Research Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 8(2): 278-284.
Copyright: © 2020 Nigusie et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original
author and source are cited.