This study was carried out in Sahl El-Tena (North West of Sinai Peninsula, Egypt; Latitude 30o 59 7 \ and longitude 32o 26 55 \) during the growth seasons 2013, 2014 and 2015. The experimental area was 11.49 hectares, and the experimental site was characterized by a Mediterranean arid climate, with a mean annual rainfall of 33.3 mm and a mean daily temperature of 21.8°C. The main source of irrigation water is El-Slam Channel where water is a mixure of both waste water and Nile fresh water at a ratio of 1:1. Two crops: maize (Zea mays l.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum l.) were chosen and grown because of their high economic and strategic values. Crop yield, water use efficiency and soil properties were concerned under two types of surface irrigation system which were traditional and modified surface irrigation by gated pipes. Statistical analysis was carried out by the SPSS program to drive the significant variance between means. The obtained results revealed that, values of yield and water use efficiency (WUE) with gated pipes were higher than the corresponding ones under the traditional system for the two crops under study. Also, using gated pipes increased both soil EC by small values during the growth seasons but it increased by about 3 (ds m-1) at 14 August, 2013 and 6 April, 2015. Moreover, the quantity of drainage water under traditional system was higher than under the gated pipe system, therefore, the EC of drainage water under gated pipes system was higher than the corresponding one under the traditional method. |
