Response of Tomato Irrigation Water Needs to Climate Change at Gobu Seyo, Ethiopia

The aim of the research was to examine how climate change would affect the amount of water needed for tomato irrigation. The CROPWAT 8.0 software was utilized to model the total agricultural water usage and irrigation needs for current and upcoming decades. Projections were generated using a MarkSim-Global Climate Model alongside the output for medium (RCP4.5) and high (RCP8.5) emission scenarios. These predictions covered the baseline period (1990-2019) and expected scenarios (2023-2052) and (2053-2082). The results indicated that the water needs for agriculture concerning this crop increased by 3.85% to 7.21% in both scenarios (RCP8.5 and RCP4.5) and timeframes (2023-2052 and 2053-2082). In the high emission scenario (RCP8.5), peak crop water requirements were recorded during the mid-term period, while in the medium emission scenario (RCP4.5), a reduction was observed in the near-term phase. Water needs for crop irrigation varied between 2.48% and 8.15%. The most significant increase occurred with RCP8.5 in the mid-term, while RCP4.5 exhibited the least fluctuation in the near-term. The results indicate that future climate alterations will greatly impact the water and irrigation requirements for agriculture. Farmers, water managers, water user associations, and policymakers are encouraged to collaborate in the future to enhance crop production, water storage, and distribution to increase the currently low efficiency of water utilization.