[01] Abdelmoneim Elamin Mohamed, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan. [02] Abeer Adil Sebair, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan. [03] Hussien Elshareef Elamin, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan.

This study was conducted in the Demonstration Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum at Shambat, on a total area of 15 m×35 m during October 2017 to March 2018. The objectives of the study were to determine the impact of emitter flow rate on soil moisture content at different depths (0-30, 30-60, 60-90 cm) of the soil profile and the wetted diameter at the soil surface under drip irrigation. The soil type of the site is heavy clay. Two flow rates of 8 and 16 liters/hours were used. The operating pressure was 1.5 bar. Eighteen basins were prepared for the citrus transplants. A drip irrigation system was designed and installed in the field. Six laterals were connected to the submain (25 mm in diameter) of the system. Each lateral line applied irrigation water to three basins. The diameter of the basin was 2 m and the spacing between basins was 5 m. Three laterals were provided with emitters to apply 8 L/h and the other three laterals were provided with emitters to provide 16 L/h, the amount of water applied to each basin was equal. The completely randomized design was used, and treatments were replicated three times. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and the variations among means were checked by the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings concluded that the flow rate of 16 L/h in comparison with the flow of 8 L/h recorded the highest moisture content to a depth of 30 cm. While moisture content values were not significantly different at the depth of 60 and 90 cm. There were no significant differences in wetted diameter values on soil surface for both discharges. Emitter discharge is an important factor in drip irrigation system design and management. In this study significant differences in soil moisture content due to emitter discharge were found near the soil surface (0–30 cm depth), while such differences were not found at depth 30–90 cm.

Drip Irrigation, Flow Rate, Emitters, Moisture Content, SPSS

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