Farmer participatory evaluation of affordable microirrigation technology for vegetable production in Cambodia

Low-cost drip irrigation (LCDI) can be an affordable means of expanding irrigation into rainfed areas, thereby increasing land productivity. This study determined the performance of LCDI as evaluated by vegetable farmers in Cambodia. The study also evaluated the effects NPK fertilizer briquette compared to conventional compound fertilizer with LCDI and hand watering (HW) in two vegetable crops on yield and water use efficiency (WUE). Yield and WUE increased significantly with LCDI compared to HW on cucumber (13% and 41 %), sponge gourd (85% and 129%), eggplant (38% and 113%) and bitter gourd (121 % and 35%), but low response on long bean (5% and 27%, respectively). In general, the average yield increased by 34% and WUE increased by 76% with LCDI. Marketable yield and water use efficiency of cucumber increased (22% to 25%) with NPK briquette deep placement compared to conventional NPK fertilizer irrespective of irrigation treatments, whereas in long bean it increased only by 9% for both yield and WUE. Net increase in income due to briquette was greater by 24% and 14% on cucumber and long bean, respectively, compared to compound fertilizer. The effect of irrigation methods on man days employed for irrigation was almost six times greater in HW compared to LCDI, although no significant effect was noted on weeding and spraying operations. The average net return with LCDI was greater by 52% compared to HW and varied from 4% to 121 % between the crops. These results suggest that LCDI andNPK briquettes can significantly improve yield, WUE and profitability of vegetable crops under farmers' management conditions. Both technologies are feasible options toward increasing vegetable production and profit-ability for small-scale farming in Cambodia during the dry season when irrigation water is limited.