Evaluation of agricultural water productivity in Somalia

This study was conducted to evaluate agricultural water productivity in Somalia. For this purpose, the irrigation area located in Afgoi district of the Lowershabelle region, which is located between 2°8'17.16'' N latitude and 45°7'16.32'' E - longitude, where irrigation practices are common, has been taken into consideration. Firstly, necessary information was collected from 47 randomly selected field plots between August and December in 2021. The yield values in (kg/ha) and the amount of irrigation water applied (mm) were determined from farmers via interview. In addition, the crop water consumption and irrigation water requirement of the crops in the area were calculated by Cropwat software. The average yield values of maize, sorghum, sesame, tomato and banana crops widely grown in the area were determined as 823.00, 663.00, 471.30, 1500.28, 17573.00 kg/ha, respectively. By Cropwat, the average seasonal cropwater consumption values of maize, sorghum, sesame, tomato and banana were estimated as 329.80, 466.11, 30.48, 433.25 and 893.47 mm, respectively. The amount of net irrigation water needed is calculated as 180.48 mm for maize, 270.80 mm for sorghum, 225.38 mm for sesame, 381.97 2 mm for tomatoes and 624.50 mm for bananas, while the amount of irrigation water applied by the farmers was 408.89 mm for maize, 187.08 mm for sorghum, 415.05 mm for sesame, 616.82 mm for tomato and 1314.00 mm for banana. According to these data the water use efficiency and irrigation water use efficiency values were calculated as 0.25, 0.21, 0.14, 0.31, 1.91 and 0.23, 0.90, 0.12, 0.25 and 1.45 kg/m3 for maize, sorghum, sesame, tomato and banana, respectively. At the end of study, the low water use and irrigation water use efficiency were observed due to low yield and excessive irrigation water applied by farmers.