Improving water use efficiency of forages to cope with drought conditions

Melkamu Bezabih, Chris Jones
Improving water use efficiency of forages to cope with drought conditions

Description

  • Significant variations were observed among the forage genotypes in WUE, indicating the importance of varietal selections for irrigated fodder development
  • Deficit irrigation improved water WUE of forages compared with full irrigation, with I-80 proving optimal DM yield and WUE
  • Given the water limitation in the smallholder system in SSA, deficit irrigation appeared to be a good option to produce fodder
  • The extra water saved from deficit irrigation could be used to irrigated other land or to support other household needs

Comments