A field experiment was carried-out at the Agriculture Experimental Station of King Abdulaziz University located at Hada Alsham, 110 km north east of Jeddah, to optimize the productivity and irrigation water use efficiency of pearl millets (Pennisetum glaucum L.), as green fodder under different irrigation methods and stress. Five treatments were investigated in this study: three with full irrigation requirements including sprinkler irrigation (SPI), drip irrigation (DI) and sub-surface drip irrigation (SDI), the remaining two treatments were stress treatment namely: sub-surface drip kept at 85% of field capacity (SDI 1) and sub-surface drip kept at 70% of field capacity (SDI 2). Irrigation water for all treatments was precisely supplied using water electronics module (WEM). Results indicated that SDI treatment gave the highest fresh and dry biomass, followed by SDI 1 compared to other treatments. Increasing number of cuts sharply decreased biomass production. Increasing water stress decreased biomass production but SDI with water stress increased biomass production compared to SPI with full irrigation requirement. Irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) was decreased by increasing water stress and number of cuts. Results also proved that WEM is a practical tool to precisely supply irrigation water when needed, and can be effectively used to precisely control water stress.

A field experiment carried-out in sandy loam soil to study the effect of effective microorganisms and green manure on productivity of two forage crops under dry conditions. The experiment was conducted at Agriculture Experimental Station of King Abdulaziz University (KAU) located at Hada Alsham, north east of Jeddah, KSA. Four treatments were investigated under the current study. In control (T1) the two grown crops were growing using recommended dose of nitrogen fertilizers added after planting. The second treatment (T2) was diluted solution (1:1000) of effective microorganisms (EM1). The third treatment (T3) was green manure while the fourth treatment (T4) was EM1 and green manure together. The results indicated that the best treatments were green manure with EM1 (T4) in alfalfa while it was only green manure (T3) in pearl millet. The single effect of EM1 was positive but not significant compared with control. Water use efficiency increased by using green manure and effective microorganisms. Increasing water use efficiency resulted in large amount of irrigation water saving. The saved water reached to 24% in pearl millet and 17% in alfalfa compared to control.

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A field experiment comparing different irrigation methods (Sprinkler Irrigation “SPI”, surface drip “DI” and sub-surface drip “SDI) were precisely controlled for alfalfa productivity and water use efficiency. The experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Experimental Station of King Abdel-Aziz University. The design of the experiment was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replicates, consists of three irrigation method. Water Electronics Module (WEM) technology was used to fully controlled the irrigation methods. The results revealed SDI increase growth parameters (plant length, number of tillers and leave to stem ratio) compared with DI and SPI. The least water supply was recorded in SDI followed by DI and SPI respectively while the highest IWUE obtained from SDI followed by DI and the least IWUE was recorded in SPI. SDI and DI saved 35.7% and 29.2% of irrigation water compared with SPI. In spite of decreasing water supply under SDI and DI high dry yield was obtained. The increase in dry yield was 45% in SDI and 15.9% in DI compared with SPI. The results of experiment especially soil moisture data proved that WEM is a practical tool to precisely supplied irrigation water when needed and can be recommended for efficiently controlled different automated irrigation systems.

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