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

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

Effect of Zinc Containing Fertilizers on Yield and Grain Quality of Tef [(Eragrostis Tef (Zucc.) Trotter] in some Soils of Tigray Region, Ethiopia

አህፅሮት የዚንክ ንጥረ ነገር ለአዝርእት እድገትና ለሰዉ ምግብነት በጣም ጠቃሚ ነዉ፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ በትግራይ ክልል አፈር ውስጥ የዚንክ እጥረት በስፋት እንዳለ በጥናት ተረጋግጠዋል፡፡ ይህ መነሻ በማድረግ የዚንክን ማዳበርያ በጤፍ ምረታማነትና የዚንክን ይዘት ያለዉ ለመዳሰስ ከአስር የዚንክ እጥረት ያላቸዉ ቦታዎች አፈር በመሰብሰብ አምስት የዚንክ መጠን በሶስት ድግግሞሽ በኮምፕሊትሊ ራንደማይዝድ ዲዛይን በቤተ ጥናት ግሪንሃዉስ ተዘርቶ ተሰርተዋል፡፡ የዚንክ መጠኖች 0 ዚንክ፣ በ100 ኪ.ግ NPSZn ማዳበርያ የሚገኝ ዚንክ በሄክታር፣ 100 ኪ.ግ NPSZn ማዳበርያ + 2 ኪ.ግ ዚንክ በሄክታር፣ 100 ኪ.ግ NPSZn ማዳበርያ + 4 ኪ.ግ ዚንክ በሄክታር እና 100 ኪ.ግ NPSZn ማዳበርያ + 8 ኪ.ግ ዚንክ በሄክታር ናቸዉ፡፡ ተጨማሪ 4 ኪ.ግ ዚንክ በሄክታር በአፈር በመጨመር የጤፍ ጠቅላላ ምርት በ 36%፣ ምርት በ 27% እንዲሁም የጤፍ የዚንክን ይዘት በ 15% አድርገዋል፡፡ ሆኖም ከ 2 ኪ.ግ ተጨማሪ ዚንክ በሄክታር ጋር ሲወዳደር የጎላ ልዩነት አላሳየም፡፡ ይህን የሚያመለክተዉ  ከ 2 እስከ 4 ኪ.ግ ዚንክ በሄክታር ተጨማሪ በ100 ኪ.ግ NPSZn ማዳበርያ ከሚገኝ ዚንክ መጨመር ያስፈልጋል፡፡ በተቃራኒ በ100 ኪ.ግ NPSZn ማዳበርያ ከሚገኝ ዚንክ በላይ መጨመር የጤፍ ዚንክ ይዘት ከዚንክ መጨመር ተመሳሳይነት አለዉ፡፡ ዚንክ ካልተጨመረበት ጋር ሲወዳደር ከፍተኛዉ ዚንክ መጠን የጤፍ ዚንክ ይዘትን በአማካይ ከ 18.04 ወደ 23.4 ሚ.ግ በ ኪ.ግ አሳድገዋል፡፡ ጠቅላላ ጥናቱ የሚያመለክተዉ ዚንክ ወደ አፈር መጨመር ለጤፍ ምርትና ምርታማነት ማሳደግ በጎ ተፅእኖ ቢኖሮዉም ለሰዉ ምግብነት የሚፈለገውን ያህል አስተዋፀኦ አላደረገም፡፡ ሰለዚህ በአፈር ዚንክ መጨመር እና የተለያዩ የአዝርእት እንክብካቤ ስራዎች በማጣመር ለጤፍ ምረታማነትና ዚንክ ይዘት ሊጨምሩ ይችላሉ፡፡  Abstract Zinc is an essential micronutrient for crop growth and human diet. Its deficiency is widespread in soils of Tigray Region. To evaluate the effects of Zn fertilizers on yield and quality of tef in ten Zn deficient soils of Tigray, greenhouse experiment composed of five treatments in a completely randomized design with three replications were conducted. Treatments were 0 Zn, Zn in 100 kg NPSZn ha-1, (100 kg NPSZn + 2 kg Zn) ha-1, (100 kg NPSZn + 4 kg Zn) ha-1 and (100 kg NPSZn + 8 kg Zn) ha-1. Although the increases were not statistically different from the treatment with 2 kg ha-1 Zn, biomass and grain yields and grain Zn concentration of tef increased significantly by 36, 27 and 15% over the control with additional Zn of 4 kg ha-1. This indicates that additional 2 to 4 kg Zn ha-1 might be needed beyond the Zn content in the 100 kg NPSZn compound fertilizer. In the contrary, grain Zn concentration increased linearly with Zn application rates beyond 100 kg NPSZn application. Compared with no application, Zn fertilizer at the highest rate increased grain Zn concentration from 18.04 to 23.4 mg kg-1 on average. The findings suggest that soil applied Zn is important to maintain sufficient yield, but has a modest biological impact on human health. Integrating soil Zn application with other agronomic practices might improve both yield and grain Zn of tef

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

The Response of Wheat (Triticum aestivum) and Tef [(Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) to All-purpose Yates Thrive Fertiliser on Vertisols of Northern Ethiopia

A greenhouse pot experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of all-purpose yates thrive, which is a new water-soluble compound fertiliser that was brought from Australia on the yield and yield components of wheat and tef on Vertisols brought from Hintalo Wajirat district. The experiment consisted of six treatments (control, recommended NP, recommended yates thrive, half recommended yates thrive, twice recommended yates thrive and recommended yates thrive plus adjusted NP) in three replications. The results of the experiments depicted that, spike/panicle length, straw and grain yields of wheat and tef were improved. Inline to this, the highest yield and yield component of both crops were obtained at the recommended rates of its thrive plus adjusted NP except the straw yield of tef. But statistically the plant height and panicle length were not significant.  Thus,  yates thrive can be used for cereals an alternative fertiliser by adjusting the level of  N and P with cost-benefit analysis of the technology as compared to the existing fertiliser types

A guide to standardized methods of analysis for soil, water, plant, and fertilizer resources for data documentation and sharing in Ethiopia

This guide is intended to serve as standard reference source for collecting, analyzing, interpreting, documenting, and sharing data on soil, plant, water, and fertilizer resources. It has been prepared by considering and adopting limited numbers of simple but effective methods and procedures for collecting, analyzing, documenting, and sharing data on soil, plant, water, and fertilizer resources in Ethiopia and has been specifically developed by reviewing standard methods and procedures of analyzing soil, plant, water, and fertilizer from the literature (Sertsu and Bekele, 2000; Bashour and Sayegh, 2007; FAO, 2008; Singh et al., 2010; Benton Jones, 2012; Estefan et al., 2013). The Guide is also intended to enable national collation, verification, and publication of hitherto collected and future data on soil, plant, water, and fertilizers that can be acquired from research institutes, universities, colleges, CGIAR Research Centers, and researchers