Mechara Agricultural Research Center, Soil and Water Engineering Research Team, P.O.Box 19, Mechara, Ethiopia

The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of In-situ water harvestingstructures on soil moisture, yield and yield components of sorghum in DaroLebu and Boke district of western Hararghe zone where highly affected by moisture stress.The in-situ water harvestingstructures used as treatments were open ridges with double and single rows of sorghum in furrow, tied ridges with double and single rows of sorghum in furrow, circular pit moisture conservation structure and flat (farmers practice) used as control. The treatments were laid out in RCBD with three replications on two locations. The data on soil moisture content, plant height, panicle length, head weight, head number, stand count at harvest and grain yield were collected. From in-situ water harvesting practices four structures shown better performance in improving soil moisture stored within the root zone as well as yield and yield components at both locations under rain-fed condition. These structures were; tied ridges with single rows of sorghum in furrow (TS), Open ridge with single rows of sorghum in furrow (OS), Tied ridge with double rows of sorghum in furrow (TD) and Open ridge with double rows of sorghum in furrow (OS). These in-situ water harvestingstructures increased grain yields of sorghum from 20 to 83.3 percent in the study area. It’s advisable and could be appropriate for sorghum production as well as improving soil moisture of root zone of crop in test area and similar agro ecologies.