Mineral Composition of Grain and Straw of Tef (Eragrostis tef) Grown on Vertisols

አህፅሮትበኢትዮጵያ ጤፍ ሇሰው ምግብነት እና ሇእንስሳት መኖ ጥቅም ላይ ይውላል፡፡ በመካከሇኛው እና ሰሜን ኢትዮጵያ ጤፍ በሚመረትባቸው አካባቢዎች የጤፍ እህል (ቅንጣት) እና ገሇባ ናሙና ተወስዶ የኬሚካል ምርመራ በኣውስትራልያ ተዯርጓል፡፡ ናሙና በተወሰዯባቸው በሶስቱም አካባቢዎች የተሇያየ የኬሚካላዊ ንጥረ ነገር ክምችት እንዳሇ ተረጋግጧል፡፡ የአየር ንብረት እና የኣፈር ንጥረ ነገር ክምችት መሇያየት ሇውጤቱ መሇያያት እንዯምክንያት መጥቀስ ይቻላል፡፡ ይህም ሆኖ ናሙና በተወሰዯባቸው ሶስቱም ኣካባቢዎች የተገኘው ውጤት ከሞላ ጎዯል ተመሳሳይነት ኣሇው ማሇት ይቻላል፡፡ ይህ ጥናት የጤፍ ቅንጣት እና ገሇባ የኬሚካላዊ ንጥረ-ነገር ክምችት ሇተመራማሪዎች እና ሞያተኞች እንዯ መሰረታዊ መረጃ ያገሇግላል፡፡ የተሻሻሇ እና ከፍተኛ የንጥረ ነገር ክምችት ያሇው የጤፍ ምርት እንዲኖረን ተጨማሪ ጥናቶች በተሇያዩ የጤፍ ዝርያዎች እና የኣፈር ኣይነቶች ሊሞከር ይገባል፡፡AbstractTef grain and straw are important food and feed resources, respectively, in Ethiopia. Chemical analysis was carried out on tef grain and straw grown on Vertisols of three areas of the central and northern districts in Ethiopia in 2008. The grain and straw samples were analyzed from nitric acid- hydrogen peroxide digest using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICPAES) in Australia. Variability among districts in trends and concentrations of different elements of tef grain and straw were observed. The variability could be due to the differences in agro-ecology and soil mineral composition in the different districts. Even though there were some inconsistencies, the chemical composition of tef grown in different agro-ecologies was similar. The current study serves to give basic information on the elemental concentration of tef grain and straw to researchers and professionals in tef mineral element composition and nutrition. Additional studies may require across soil types and using different varieties of tef to strengthen the quality of tef in terms of nutrient composition and to give indications for further research on nutrients that are deficient in soils and plants

Response of Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

 አህፅሮት ከተሇያዩ የናይትሮጅን ማዳበሪያ ምንጮች ውስጥ ዩርያ ኣንዱ ሲሆን በቀሊለ የመሟሟት ማሇትም ወደ መሬት በመስረግ፣ በትነት መሌክ በቀሊለ ከአፈርና ከተክሌ ስርዓት በመጥፋት በምርት ሊይ አለታዊ ተፅዕኖ ያሳድራሌ:: ይህን ሇመቅረፍ ቀስ እያሇ የሚሟሟ ዩርያ ስቴብሌ(UREAStabil) የተባሇ ማዳበሪያ እና የተሇመደው ዩርያ ማዳበሪያ (conventional urea) በስንዴ ምርት ሊይ ያሊቸውን ተፅዕኖ ሇማወቅ በክረምት 2007 ዓ.ም በሓውዜን እና እምባ ኣሊጀ ወረዳዎች ሙከራ ተካሂደዋሌ:: አራት የናይትሮጅን መጠን ከዩርያ ስቴብሌ 0፣32፣64፣96 ኪል ግራም ናይትሮጅን እና 64 ኪል ግራም ናይትሮጅን ከተሇመደው ዩርያ ሇማወዳደርያነት በማካተት በራንደማይዝድ ኮምፕሉት ብልክ ዲዛይን (RCBD) በሶስት ድግግሞሽ ተፈትሿሌ:: የቅድመ ተከሊ የኣፈር ናሙና እንደሚያመሇክተው የናይትሮጅን መጠን በሓውዜን የምርምር ጣቢያ ዝቅተኛ ሲሆን በእምባ ኣሊጀ ደግሞ መካከሇኛ መጠን ኣሇው:: በሓውዜን የምርምር ጣቢያ የተሻሇ ምርት የተሰበሰበው 64 ኪል ግራም ናይትሮጅን በዩርያ ስቴብሌ መሌክ በመጨመር ሲሆን ይህም መጠን ኢኮኖሚያዊ አዋጭነቱ ከላልች ቅንብሮች/ አያያዝ የተሻሇ መሆኑ ተረጋግጧሌ:: በተቃራኒው በእምባ አሊጀ ግን 64 ኪልግራም ናይትሮጅን በተሇምዶ ዩርያ መሌክ መጨመር የተሻሇ ምርት ከማስገኘቱም ባሻገር የኢኮኖሚ ኣዋጭነቱ ተረጋግጧሌ:: AbstractHighly soluble N fertilizers like urea may be lost from the soil plant system through leaching, volatilization, and denitrification thereby reduce yields and NUE of arable crops. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of slow nitrogen (N) releasing fertilizer (UREAStabil) on NUE and yields of bread wheat and determine optimum rate of N application for bread wheat production. A field experiment was carried out in 2015 main cropping season at Hawzien and at Emba Alaje districts in Tigray Regional State, Ethiopia. Cambisols and Vertisols are the two dominant soil types at Hawzien and Emba Alaje districts, respectively. The experiments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications on six farmers’ fields. Treatments were four levels of nitrogen fertilizer (0, 32, 64 and 96 kg N ha-1). The nitrogen source was UREAStabil, which is slow N releasing fertilizer. Conventional urea at recommended rate (64 kg N ha-1) was included as a control at both sites. Soil samples were collected before planting and analyzed for selected physicochemical properties. Pre-planting soil analysis results revealed that total N was low at Suluh site in Hawzien (0.051% to 0.082%) and medium at Ayba and Atsela sites in Emba Alaje (0.157% to 0.211%). Application of 64 kg N ha-1 as UREAStabil and conventional urea resulted in the highest grain yields of 1708.33 kg ha1 and 5467.9 kg ha-1 from in Hawzien and Emba Alaje districts, respectively. The highest agronomic efficiency of 9.46 kg kg-1and apparent N recovery of 55% were obtained from 64 kg N ha-1 as UREAStabil. However, the maximum physiological efficiency of 60.28 kg kg-1 was obtained from the same rate as conventional urea at Suluh site in Hawzien district. The highest agronomic efficiency of 22.2 kg kg-1, physiological efficiency of 87.05 kg kg-1, and apparent N recovery of 59.7% was obtained from 64 kg N ha-1 as conventional urea at Atsela and Ayba sites in Emba Alaje district. Both biological and partial budget analysis reveals that the use of N at rate of 64 kg N ha-1as UREAStabil and 64 kg N ha-1 as conventional urea could give optimum bread wheat yield in Hawzien and in Emba Alaje, respectively, and in areas where the rainfall distribution and soil type is similar with study districts where this experiment was conducted. Further study is also required on split application of UREAStabil at the study sites

Response of bread wheat (Tritcum aestivum L.) to nitrogen after major leguminous crops rotation in Tigray, northern Ethiopia

Crop rotation is a common practice in the study area, but there is no enough information on the specific rate of nitrogen to be applied after legumes for wheat production. Hence, on farm field experiments were conducted to determine the amount of nitrogen fertilizer rates needed for bread wheat after chick pea, grass pea, fababean and field pea precursor crops. The field experiments were conducted during 2014 main cropping season at Hawzien after chick pea and grass pea and at Emba Alaje after fababean and field pea precursor crops. The experiment consists of six nitrogen rates (0, 11.5, 23, 34.5, 46 and 69 kg Nha-1) laid in a RCBD with three replications. Phosphorus, sulfur and potassium fertilizers were also applied as basal for all plots at sowing. Surface soil samples were collected before planting and analyzed for selected soil properties. Soil analysis result of the experimental sites revealed that total nitrogen content (%) of the soil after chickpea-wheat (0.0695), grass pea-wheat (0.067), fababean-wheat (0.074) crop rotation were categorized under low range and after field pea-wheat (0.102) under medium range. Application of nitrogen had significantly increased grain and straw yield at Hawzien district after chick pea and grass pea precursor crops. At Emba-Alaje the highest grain yield was recorded on plots treated with 69 kg N ha-1 (6242 kg ha-1). Grain and straw yields of wheat increased up to a rate of 46 kg N ha-1 after fababean at Emba-Alaje district. There is no significant difference in grain and straw yields of wheat due to application of nitrogen after field pea crop rotation. In Hawzien the highest agronomic efficiency after chick pea and grass pea was recorded from plots treated with 46 kg N ha-1 and 34.5 kg N ha-1, respectively. In Emba Alaje the highest agronomic efficiency after faba bean and field pea was recorded from plots treated with 11.5 kg N ha-1 and 23 kg N ha-1 , respectively. At Hawzien, the partial budget analysis revealed that application of 46 kg N ha-1 for bread wheat after chick pea and grass pea was economical with 1545% and 796 % marginal rate of return, respectively. At Emba Alaje, the partial budget analysis revealed that application of 34.5 kg N ha-1 for bread wheat after fababean was economical with 895% marginal rate of return. It could be concluded that application rate of N for wheat after leguminous crops should consider initial soil N and precursor crop

Evaluation of NPSZn Blended Fertilizer on Yield and Yield Traits of Bread Wheat (Tritcum aestivum L.) on Cambisols and Vertisols in Southern Tigray, Ethiopia

አህፅሮት  የግብርና ምርትና ምርታማነት ለማሳደግ የተለያዩ ዓይነት ምጥን ማዳበርያዎች፣ ዳፕ እና ዩርያን በመተካት ወደ ሃገራችን  ለሙከራ የገቡት በቅርቡ ነው፤ NPSZn ምጥን ማዳበርያም አንዱ ነው፡፡ የተለያየ መጠን NPSZn (0፣ 50፣ 100፣ 150፣ 200፣ 250፣ 300 ኪ.ግ በሄክታር) እና የተለመደው ዩርያና ዳፕ ማዳበርያ እንደ መወዳደርያነት በማካታት በራንደማይዝድ ኮምፕሊት ብሎክ ዲዛይን (RCBD) በሶስት ድግግሞሽ በ2009ዓ.ም እና 2010ዓ.ም በትግራይ በኦፍላ እና እምባ አላጀ ወረዳዎች ተሞክሯል፡፡ የቅድመ ተከላ የአፈር ናሙና እንደሚያመለክተው የናይትሮጅን መጠን በአብዛኛው የምርምር ሳይቶች ዝቅተኛ ሲሆን የፎስፎረስ መጠን ደግሞ መካከለኛ ነበር፡፡ በተለያየ የምርት መለኪያ መንገዶች እና በኢኮኖሚያዊ አዋጭነት መሰረት 200ኪ.ግ NPSZn ምጥን ማዳበርያ ከ62 ኪ.ግ ዩርያ በኦፍላ እንዲሁም 100ኪ.ግ NPSZn ምጥን ማዳበርያ ከ100ኪ.ግ ዩርያ በእምባ አላጀ ከሌሎች የማዳበርያ መጠኖች በተሻለ በስንዴ ምርት ላይ የተሻሉ እንደሆኑ ተረጋግጧል፡፡   Abstract A field experiment was carried out in 2017 and 2018 main cropping seasons in Ofla and Emba Alaje Woredas in Tigray Regional State, Ethiopia. The experiment has seven levels of NPSZn (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, kg ha-1) adjusted for N from urea to the recommended N level (64 kg N ha-1) and the recommended P fertilizers (46 kg P2O5 ha-1). The treatments were also arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications and executed on two farmers' fields. Soil samples were collected before planting and analyzed for selected physicochemical properties. As a result, the application of different rates of NPSZn blended fertilizer significantly influenced the yield and yield components of wheat at both sites. At Ofla, the highest grain and straw yields were obtained from plots that received 200 kg NPSZn ha-1 . At Emba Alaje, the highest grain and straw yields were harvested from the application of 200 kg NPSZn ha-1 and 100 kg NPSZn ha-1, respectively. Application of Zn in the blended fertilizer had no significant effect on grain Zn concentration of bread wheat at both sites. Partial budget analysis revealed that the optimum marginal rate of return was 22.25ETB and 16.06ETB at Emba Alaje and Ofla, respectively. Both biological and economic analysis showed that applications of 200kg NPSZn with 28.6 kg N (62 kg urea) at Ofla and 100 kg NPSZn with 46 kg N (100 kg urea) at Emba Alaje were optimum for wheat production and these rates could be recommended for areas where the rainfall distribution and soil types are similar with the study locations. Further study should be done on the effects of NPSZn on grain quality and a single nutrient-based experiment should be carried out to evaluate the effect of each nutrient in the blended fertilizer for crop production. &nbsp

Balanced fertilization increases wheat yield response on different soils and agroecological zones in Ethiopia

The response of wheat to the application of different rates of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and sulfur (S) under balanced fertilization on different soil types and agroecologies has not been well studied in Ethiopia. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to (1) determine soil-specific responses of wheat to N, P, K, and S under balanced fertilization; (2) quantify agroecology-specific N, P, K, and S response of wheat under balanced fertilization; and (3) determine nutrient use efficiency of wheat on different soil types under balanced fertilization. Trials were conducted on farmers’ fields across 24 locations covering 4 soil types and 5 agroecological zones (AEZs) from 2013 to 2017. The mean grain yields of wheat significantly varied with applied N and P fertilizer rates with soil types and AEZs. With balanced application of other nutrients, the optimum N rates for wheat were 138 kg N ha−1 on Cambisols and Luvisols, 92 kg N ha−1 on Vertisols, and 176 kg N ha−1 on Nitisols, while the optimum P rate was 20 kg P ha−1 on Cambisols and Vertisols. The nutrient dose–response curve did not reveal consistent pattern for K and S applications on all soil types. The agronomic efficiency of wheat decreased with increasing rates N and P on all soil types. The highest agronomic efficiency of N (15.8 kg grain kg−1 applied N) was recorded with application of 92 kg N ha−1 on Vertisols, while the highest agronomic efficiency of P (49 kg grain kg−1 applied P) was achieved with application of 10 kg P ha−1 on Cambisols. We conclude that applications of 92–138 kg N ha−1, 20 kg P ha−1, 18 kg K ha−1, and 10 kg S ha−1 under balanced application of zinc and boron could be recommended depending on soil type for wheat production in the study areas

Response of Upland Rice to Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilization on Vertisols of Tigray, Ethiopia

Nitrogen and phosphorus are often cited as the most limiting nutrients in agricultural soils of Ethiopia. Their availability in the soil solution also determines the growth and productivity of the soils and crops. Thus, experiments were conducted to investigate the response of upland rice and determine the optimum rates of N and P fertilizers.  Experiments were conducted at four sites of Tselemti district (Tsaeda-Kerni, Mizikir, Maitsebri and Sekota-Mariam), Northwestern Tigray, Ethiopia. A factorial combination of two factors, four levels of nitrogen (0, 23, 46, 69, kg N ha-1 designated as N0, N1, N2 and N3, respectively) and four levels of phosphorus (0, 10, 20, 30 kg P ha-1 designated as P0, P1, P2 and P3, respectively) were conducted on complete randomized block design (CRBD). Data on yield and yield components of upland rice were collected and subjected to ANOVA through SAS software V9. Results showed that plant height, number of spikelet and total seed per panicle of upland rice were significantly increased when nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers interacted at higher doses There were significant differences of main effects on panicle length, grain yield and straw yields of rice. Significantly higher grain and straw yields were obtained in plots receiving 69 kg N ha-1 compared to preceding treatments, and application of either 20 or 30 kg P fertilizer ha-1 can also boost the yields of upland rice in the district. However, the optimum grain yield of rice to the application of N and P fertilizers was not found in the response curve which indicates an extra application rates should be tried. Further, the highest agronomic efficiencies were also observed in the lower rates of both main effects

Response of Wheat on Uptake, Protein and Nitrogen Use Efficiency to Application of Slow Releasing Nitrogen Fertilizer in Northern Ethiopia

The N recovery by crops from the soluble N fertilizers such as urea is often as low as 30–40%, with a potentially high environmental cost associated with N losses via NH3 volatilization, NO3- leaching and N2O emission to the atmosphere. This study was initiated to evaluate the effects of slow releasing nitrogen fertilizer in nitrogen uptake, nitrogen use efficiency and grain protein content of wheat. A field experiment was carried out in 2015 main cropping season at Hawzien district in Tigray Regional State, Ethiopia. The experiment were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications at three farmer's field. Treatments were four levels of nitrogen (0, 32, 64 and 96) kg ha-1. The nitrogen source was UREAStabil, which is slow N releasing fertilizer. Conventional urea at recommended rate (64 kg N ha-1) was included as positive control at both sites. The highest grain and straw N uptake, and total uptake (41.81 kg ha-1, 24.28 kg ha-1, and 66.09 kg ha-1, respectively) were recorded for grain and straw harvested from plots treated with 64 kg N ha-1 in the form of UREAStabil . The highest agronomic efficiency of 9.46 kg kg-1and apparent recovery of nitrogen 55% was obtained at 64 kg N ha-1 as UREAStabil and physiological efficiency of 60.28 kg kg-1 was obtained at 64 kg N ha-1 as conventional urea. The highest and lowest grain protein content were recorded for grain harvested from plots fertilized with 96 kg N ha-1 (14.151%) in the form of UREAStabil and 0 kg N ha-1 (10.62%), respectively. It can be concluded that the highest uptake and nitrogen use efficiency was obtained on plots treated with UREAStabil than conventional urea.&nbsp