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

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

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

Effect Of Nitrogen Fertiliser Applied To Tef On The Yield And N Response Of Succeeding Tef And Durum Wheat On A Highland Vertisol

A trial was conducted on an Ethiopian Vertisol from 1990 to 1995 to determine the residual effect of fertiliser N applied to tef (Eragrostis tef) following chickpea (Cicer arietinum) on the grain and straw yield, N content, and N uptake of succeeding crops of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum var. durum) and tef. Measures of N use efficiency across the interval 0 to 60 kg ha-1 of applied N contrasted between the two consecutive tef crops: tef following chickpea exhibited lower mean values for agronomic efficiency (AE), namely 11.7 vs 16.8 kg grain per kg applied N, and apparent recovery (AR), 37.8 vs. 66.4%, of N compared to the second consecutive tef crop. The magnitude and consistency of the beneficial carryover effect of N applied to tef on the succeeding tef and durum wheat crops was dramatic. The mean AE of 60 kg ha-1 of N applied to tef and wheat in the current season (using 0 N as the base) was 16.8 and 13.0 kg grain per kg fertiliser N, respectively; the mean AE of 60 kg N applied to tef in the previous season was 6.1 for both crop species. The results demonstrated a residual fertiliser N benefit equivalent to 36.3 and 46.9% of the response to current season N application for tef and durum wheat, respectively (i.e., across the interval from 0 to 60 kg fertiliser N ha-1). Across the same interval, the mean rates of apparent recovery of fertiliser N in tef and wheat were 66.4 and 65.4% for current season N application, and 25.7 and 36.1% for previous season N application. The carryover effects of applied fertiliser N on succeeding cereal crops on Vertisols in the Ethiopian highlands have several beneficial implications. Tef and wheat grain comprise the principal dietary components of the Ethiopian highland populace, while tef and wheat straw represent the major dry season feed source for Ethiopia's livestock population. The current study demonstrates that the carryover benefit of applied fertiliser N enhanced the yields and N contents of the grain and straw of both wheat and tef, resulting in significant increases in total N uptake. Thus, both human and livestock populations in the Ethiopian highland Vertisol zones would benefit from an increase in dietary protein intake as well as an increase in the quantity of dietary staples. Any analysis of the profitability of fertiliser N response should reflect the multi-year benefit period.Un essai a \ue9t\ue9 conduit sur un Vertisol Ethiopien de 1990 \ue0 1995, pour d\ue9terminer les effets r\ue9siduels de l' application de fertilisant azot\ue9 (N) au tef (Eragrostis tef) cultiv\ue9 apr\ue8s pois chiche (Cicer arietinum), sur le rendement en grain et en paille, la teneur en azote et la prise d 'azote par les cultures suivantes de bl\ue9 dur (Triticum turgidum var. durum) et de tef. Les mesures d 'efficacit\ue9 d 'utilisation de l 'azote sur une gamme de concentration d'azote appliqu\ue9 de 0 \ue0 60 kg/ha, \ue9tait diff\ue9rente pour les deux cultures successives de tef; tef suivant pois chiche pr\ue9sentait une valeur pour l'efficacit\ue9 agronomique (AE) plus basse, 11,7 contre 16,8 kg de grains par kilo d'azote appliqu\ue9 et une r\ue9cup\ue9ration apparente (AR), 37,8 contre 66,4% d'azote compar\ue9 au tef en deuxi\ue8me culture successive. La magnitude et l'uniformit\ue9 de l'effet b\ue9n\ue9fique de stockage d'azote appliqu\ue9 au tef et au bl\ue9 dur \ue9tait dramatique. La moyenne AE pour 60 kg d'N appliqu\ue9 au tef et au bl\ue9 durant la saison en cours (en consid\ue9rant 0 N comme base) \ue9tait respectivement, de 16,8 et 13 kg de grains par kg d'engrais azot\ue9; la moyenne AE pour 60 kg d'N appliqu\ue9 au tef dans la saison pr\ue9c\ue9dente \ue9tait de 6,1 pour les deux cultures. Les r\ue9sultats ont d\ue9montr\ue9 un effet r\ue9siduel b\ue9n\ue9fique de la fertilisation en azote \ue9quivalent \ue0 36,3 et 46,9% de la r\ue9ponse \ue0 l'application d'azote durant la saison en cours pour le tef et le bl\ue8 dur, respectivement (c. \ue0 d. sur la marge de 0 \ue0 60 kg d'engrais azot\ue9 \ue0 l'hectare). Sur la m\ueame marge, le taux moyen de r\ue9cup\ue9ration apparente d'engrais azot\ue9 sur le tef et le bl\ue9 \ue9tait de 66,4 et 65,4% pour la saison d'application en cours et de 25,7 et 36,1% pour une application durant la saison pr\ue9c\ue9dente. Les effets de stockage de l'application d'engrais azot\ue9 sur les cultures de c\ue9r\ue9ales suivantes dans le Vertisol des r\ue9gions montagneuses \ue9thiopiennes a plusieurs cons\ue9quences b\ue9n\ue9fiques. Le grain de tef et de bl\ue9 constituent la composante principale du r\ue9gime alimentaire du peuple des r\ue9gions montagneuses \ue9thiopiennes, tandis que la paille de tef et de bl\ue9 constitue la principale nourriture pour le b\ue9tail \ue9thiopien durant la saison s\ue8che. Cette \ue9tude montre que l'effet de stockage b\ue9n\ue9fique de l'application d'azote augmente les rendements et les teneurs en azote des grains et de la paille de bl\ue9 et de tef, ce qui r\ue9sulte en une augmentation significative de la prise totale d'azote. Ainsi, aussi bien la population humaine que le b\ue9tail de la zone Vertisol des r\ue9gions montagneuses \ue9thiopiennes b\ue9n\ue9ficieraient d'un accroissement de la prise de prot\ue9ine alimentaire ainsi que d'une augmentation en quantit\ue9 de nourriture de base ing\ue9r\ue9e. Toute analyse de la rentabilit\ue9 de la r\ue9ponse de l'apport d'engrais devrait mettre en valeur la p\ue9riode b\ue9n\ue9fique pluriannuelle