Abstract Techniques of furrow preparation on a field are mostly traditional; farmers provide furrow shape and direction based on their experience without the concept of scientific information. The measurement, evaluation and optimization of furrow irrigation are restricted to the single furrow or small number of adjacent furrows. The measurement process is too intensive to be applied at the full field scale. Consequently; it is necessary to assume that the infiltration characteristics and inflow rates of the measured furrow(s) represent the remainder of the field. The field inflow and outflow rates of five irrigation events in experimental plots were planned. The gross applied and estimated depth of irrigation was determined for a scheme based on the available data of inflow rate, which was measured through the graduated bucket and CROPWAT 8 model, respectively. Soil specific calibration was made for the soil moisture reading and its error result is presented. Furrow parameters including; furrow slope, width, length, and shape were measured and presented. The results of soil moisture measurements showed that crops are water stressed during the experiment period. Application efficiency decreases with increasing steep slope and cutoff time, large applied depth, and high inflow rate in the study area. The Melka Hida small scale irrigation scheme was granted to farmers and empowered them occasionally to harvest twice in a year. With increased population growth and the erratic rainfall, competition of water users in this area is reported increasing from time to time. This limits water usage, crop production and overall living standard of farmers of this region.