A Study of the Water Requirement of the Eggplant Crop (Solanum melongena) Using the Techniques of Localized Drip Irrigation and its Comparison with the Traditional Surface Irrigation

Abstract

The results showed that the total water consumptive use of the drip irrigation technique (irrigation line to planting line) was 5967 m3 ha-1, while the production approached 121.06 tons ha 1 . The total water use efficiency was 20.3 kg m-3 ha-1, and the percentage of irrigation water savings compared to the control was 42.6%. The increase in production over the control was 20%, and the yield per square meter was 12.1 kg, while the total water consumption of the drip irrigation technology (irrigation line for two cultivation lines) was 6679 m3 ha-1 with a yield of 110.78 tons ha -1. The total water use efficiency was 16.6 kg m-3 ha-1 and the percentage of irrigation water savings compared to the control was 35.4%, the increase in production compared to the control was 9%, and the yield per square meter was 11.1 kg, while the total water consumption of the (traditional surface irrigation) technology reached 10,965 m3 ha-1 with a yield of 101.22 tons ha-1 . The total water use efficiency was 9.2 kg m-3 ha-1 and the yield per square meter was 10.1 kg. It was found that the drip irrigation technique (an irrigation line for a planting line) gave the highest production with the least amount of irrigation water compared to other methods, taking into account that the drip irrigation technique (a hazardous for two planting lines) was better in terms of saving in the cost of the lines.