NYIRENDA,EMMANUEL MABVUTO2025-03-042025-03-042011https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/6609ThesisThe combined increase in demand for food and scarcity of water worldwide highlights the need for prudent use of water resources. Agriculture, particularly, paddy production, faces two major challenges: (i) to save water; (ii) to increase productivity. One way to deal with this situation is using water saving regimes at field scale. This study therefore was aimed at evaluating some of the water-saving cultural practices in paddy production under Tanzanian conditions. Four different ponding levels (5 cm, 3 cm, 0 cm and the control based on ETc replenishment) represented the main plots while the paddy rice varieties were randomly assigned as sub-plots in each of the main plots. The experiment was designed as 4 x 4 factorial arrangement of treatments in a split- plot design replicated three times (three blocks). Yield, water productivity and seepage and percolation were assessed for each sub-treatment. Results showed no significant difference (p< 0.05) in yield of the varieties as a result of ponding depths and no significant interaction between ponding depth and variety. However, the variety effect on yield was significant. On the other hand, there was significant interaction between ponding depth and variety in terms of water productivity. About 10% of the water applied to whole plot treatments with ponding depths 3 cm and 5 cm was consumptively used. The whole plot treatments based on ETc replenishment resulted in the highest water productivity for all the varieties. Variety TXD88 yielded highest at all ponding levels while the 0 cm ponding level had the least seepage and percolation losses amounting to 78% of water applied. This shows that traditional cultural practices requiring inundation over a long period and using large amounts of water can beii dispensed with at minimal loss in yield but at significantly higher levels of water productivity.enHybrid paddyPonding depthsYield responseWater resourcesThesis