Sorghum economics under different irrigation methods and water doses

Abstract

In this study, an attempt has been made to evaluate the biomass production and the economic results of sorghum growing in Greece under surface and sub-surface drip irrigation and with three different amounts of irrigating water: 100%, 70% and 50% of the daily evapotranspiration. Thus, a field experiment comprising a completely randomized block design with six treatments and four replications was conducted at the Experimental Farm Station of the University of Thessaly in 2007. Water needs were satisfied by using full (100% ET) and partial (70% and 50% ET) amounts of irrigating water. Crop production was measured in terms of dry biomass, while gross revenue, production costs and gross margin were the economic parameters to be measured and examined. The comparative data analysis of the two irrigation methods showed that the subsurface drip irrigation method was performing significantly better than the surface one in biomass production and other economic results.