Physical Land Suitability Evaluation for Irrigation in the Lower Alwero River Area of Abobo, Western Ethiopia

Land suitability assessment plays an important role in identifying biophysical constraints and evaluating potential capacity of land and its sustainable use. Physical land suitability evaluation for irrigation was carried out in the lower Alwero river area of Abobo, western Ethiopia, following FAO methodology for general irrigation farming. The irrigation suitability of five land mapping units (LMUs): 1Ac, 1Bc, 1Ecl, 2Cc and 3Ccl were assessed by considering slope, drainage, top soil texture, sub soil texture, surface stoniness, surface coarse fragments, subsurface coarse fragment, rockiness, depth to solid rock or hardpan, lime, gypsum, electrical conductivity (EC) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP). The result revealed that LMU 1Ac, 1Bc and 2Cc, with total area of 22,367.9 ha (83.7%), were moderately suitable (S2). The moderate limiting factors were drainage, top soil texture and subsoil texture. On the other hand, LMU 1Ec1, covering an area of 3,677.6 ha (13.8%) was not suitable (N) for irrigation due to subsurface coarse fragments and depth to solid rock or hardpan. For all LMUs, parameters like lime, gypsum, EC and ESP were not considered as limiting factors.