C H A P T E R : 1 I N T R O D U C T I O N T O L A N D D R A I N A G E

What is Drainage?

It is broadly defined as the removal (disposal) of excess water from

a land (usually agricultural land). The terms ‘drainage’, ‘land
drainage’, ‘agricultural drainage’ and ‘field drainage’ are used as
synonyms in practice. Since drainage (land drainage) is necessary
not only for the removal of excess surface water or groundwater
but also for removing salts from the soil, a precise definition of
drainage has been given by the constitution of the International
Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID, 1979).
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CONT.

According to ICID (1979), land drainage is

defined as follows:

 “Land drainage is the removal of excess

surface and subsurface water from the
land to enhance crop growth, including
the removal of soluble salts from the
soil”.

And this definition of land drainage (or

drainage) is well known and is used
worldwide.
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CONT.

Objectives of Drainage

•Plant roots require a favorable environment to extract water and nutrient

solutions to meet the plant’s requirement. For most crops, soil moisture

ranging from field capacity to 50% of the field capacity in the root zone

is considered ideal.

•Excess water and/or high salt concentration in the root zone or at the land

surface do not allow the plant roots to function normally. As a result, the

plant growth and yield are adversely affected. In the extreme cases of

waterlogging and salinity, the seeds may not germinate and the plants
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may wilt permanently.

D R A I N A G E P R O B L E M S I N E T H I O P I A

In most agricultural land of Ethiopia

drainage systems is either non-existing
or malfunctioning.
1.Water logging
In Ethiopia severe waterlogging and
salinity problems have challenged
agricultural production and resulted in
substantially lower yields than the
potential expected.
Irrigation development is a priority
taxes for agricultural transformation in
Ethiopia. But poor practices of
irrigation management discourage
efforts to improve livelihoods and
expose people and the environment to
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risks.