Using AquaCrop as a Decision-Support Tool for Small-Scale Irrigation Systems Was Dictated by the Institutional and Market Incentives in Ethiopia

The threat of water scarcity in sub-Saharan Africa is exacerbated by the expanding agricultural water needs, increasing climate variability and inappropriate land use. It calls for technological and institutional innovations to improve water productivity, while sustaining the resources base. This study was undertaken to examine the effect of deficit and supplementary irrigation for staggered production of potato driven by market opportunities at different periods in northeastern Ethiopia. We used potato (Solanum tuberosum) to demonstrate AQUACrop as a tool for improving water productivity during Belg (short) and Meher (long) rainfall seasons. A field experiment was undertaken using supplementary irrigation at different levels of potato crop water satisfaction (50% ETc, 75% ETc, 100% ETc and rainfed conditions) during the Belg (February–May 2020) and Meher (July–October 2020) seasons. Upon proper calibration of AquaCrop for the local potato variety (Belete), long-term simulations revealed that the mean net irrigation requirements were 249 mm during Belg season while the probability of applying supplementary irrigation during Meher was