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Sudan Journal of Agricultural Research

Reduction of evaporation by closing cracks in Sudan Gezira Vertisols
 

Hassan S. Hilmi, Eltijani A. Elias, and Hussein S. Adam¹
 

Abstract:
 

An experiment was conducted at Gezira Agricultural Research Station Farm in 1997/98 season, to investigate the effect of closing soil cracks on irrigation of wheat. Two basins were used. In one the cracks were closed few days after the second and third irrigation using hand tools, and the other was left as a control. Water applied and soil moisture were measured using a vane flow meter and gravimetric sampling, respectively. The amount of water saved by closing the cracks after the second and third irrigation was about 435 m³/ha which is equivalent to 70 million m³ over the proposed area of wheat in the Gezira Scheme (168 thousand ha). However, results showed that the procedure of hand tillage used for closing the cracks was not efficient enough to achieve the required closure. Thus there is a need for trying other methods.

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Sudan Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 3 (2000) PP. 33-35