Combination of irrigation systems in several soil types using principal component analysis

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of Principal Component Analysis in evaluating irrigation systems in different soil types and to obtain information on the best method and combination of factors for rice cultivation. The study was carried out in Soppeng Regency in April-September 2019. A nested design was used with different replication of soil texture levels (S), namely sandy (S1), loam (S2), and clay (S3). The second factor was water management (W), which consists of farmers' watering practice (W1), as well as intermittent (W2), dry-wet application (W3), and semi-puddled (W4) irrigation systems. Each combination treatment was replicated three times to obtain 36 experimental units. Subsequently, observations were carried out on seven yield component parameters, analyzed with multivariate evaluation, correlation, and principal component analysis. The principal component analysis effectively assessed irrigation methods and soil types with an eigenvalue of 0.9286. The intermittent irrigation system was the best method for rice cultivation, specifically in loam and clay soils, where the latter had the best combination. These results are expected to be a basis for future studies or practical activities on the crop's cultivation.