Spate irrigation of barley through floodwater harvesting in the Gareh-Bygone Plain, Iran

Utilizing passive floodwater for spate irrigation in arid areas is an opportunity to use marginal water for production of crops. These techniques have only partially been studied in an extensive way. This paper describes a floodwater harvesting and spreading system for spate irrigation and field experiments for cultivation of barley. The field experiments were carried out during a three-year period. The area is noteworthy for its erratic and scarce rainfall. Due to the scarce and late rainfall, only in the second year experiment barley yield was achieved. On December 5, 2009, barley was planted in one trial plot and subsequently received spate irrigation on December 8. On December 16, 2009, barley was planted in a second trial plot and in a control plot outside the system. During the growth period, the second trial plot and the control plot only received moisture from rainfall. The total weight of barley seed and straw in the trial plots was about 1616 and 2052 kg ha-1, respectively. The total weight of barley seed and straw in the control plot, however, was only about 821 kg ha-1. The results consequently displayed a significant increase in yield for the trial plots as compared with the control plot.