Management of Runoff Harvesting as a Source of Irrigation Water in Dry Land Agriculture on Steep Land Slope

Abstract

In tropical country such as Indonesia, the production for crops in dry land  always depend on climatic condition especially  rainfall for crop growth. Since the availability of the water is limited, therefore cultivation of crops is investigated. Indonesia has two seasons which are dry season and wet season. During  dry season crops in dry land is of limited water supply, therefore crops meet its water requirement from soil water only. Heavy rainfall in the wet season, indicates water cannot fully conserved in the soil and some surface water lost as a runoff. This research was conducted with descriptive analysis method for analyzing the potential rainfall on the research center, and field observation method for calculating the potential of runoff water. Results showed that runoff on the area planted with single seasonal crop is greater than that  planted with mixed seasonal crop. Also note that about 60 cubic meter of runoff that is stored in the storage pond can be used to irrigate of 70 square meters the area planted with sweet corn + sweet potato for two planting seasons. The harvesting runoff on dry land can increase cropping intensity from one to three times of planting per year. It can be said that the runoff harvesting is able to improve dry land farmers welfare.

 

Keywords: Runoff harvesting, multiple cropping, irrigation

References
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