Phosphorus efficiency of potato genotypes

[no abstract

The Response of Hybrid Maize (Zea mays) to N and P Fertilizers on Nitisols of Yeki District, Sheka Zone

and Environmental Sciences, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia; 3CIMMYT, Addis Ababa አህፅሮትበኢትዮጵያ ዝቅተኛ የአፈርለምነት በተለይም ናይትሮጅን እና ፎስፎረስ፣ ለሰብል ምርታማነትን ለመጨመር ማነቆ የሆኑ ንጥረ ነገሮች ናቸው፡፡ በዘልማዳዊ ናትሮጂን እናፎስፎረስ ማዳበረያ ምክረሃሳብ ምክኒያት በኢትዮጵያ በብሔራዊ ደረጃ የተዳቀለ የበቆሎ ዝርያ ምርት ዘላቂ እና አጥጋቢ አይደለም፡፡ ስለዚህ የናይተሮጂን እና ፎስፎረስ ማዳበረያን መጠን እና አጠቃቀም በበቆሎ ምርት ላይ አጥጋቢ ምላሽ ለመፈለግ በደቡብ ምዕራብ ኢትዮጵያ የኪ ወረዳበ 2008 ዓ.ም ሁለት የተለያዩ ቦታዎች ላይ የመስክ ሙከራ አድረገን ነበር፡፡ ጥናቱ ሁለት ዓይነት ሙከራዎችን ያካተተ ነበር፤ የመጀመሪያው ጥናት ሰባት የተለያዩ የናይትሮጂን ማዳበሪያ ደረጃዎች ማልትም 0፤ 23፤ 46፤ 69፤ 92፤ 115 እና 138 ኪሎ ግራም በሄክታር ለእያንዳንዳቸው 30 ኪሎ ግራም ፎስፈረስ በሄክታር በመጨመር፤ ሁለተኛው ጥናት ደግሞ ሰባት የተለያዩ የፎስፈረስ ማዳበሪያ ደረጃዎችን ማለትም 0፤ 10፤ 20፤ 30፤ 40፤ 50 እና 60 ኪሎግራም በሄክታር እያንዳንዳቸው 92 ኪሎ ግራም ናይትሮጂን በሄክታር የያዘ ነበር፡፡ እነዚህ የናይትሮጂን እና የፎስፎረስ ደረጃዎች በአራት ረድፎች ውስጥ የተደረደሩ ሲሆን በእያንዳንዱ ረድፍ ሁለም የማዳበሪያ ደረጃዎች የዘፈቀዲዊ አኳኋን እንዱቀመጡተ ደርጓል፡፡ ውጤቶቹ የሚያሳዩት የናይትሮጂን እና የፎስፎረስ ደረጃዎች በበቆሎ ምርት፤ ፎስፎረስ እና ናይትሮጅን ንጠረ ነገሮችን የመጠቀም አቅም እና ዘዴ ላይ ከፍተኛ ተጽዕኖ ያሳደረ መሆኑን ነው፡፡ በአጠቃላይ ፎስፎረስ እና ናይትሮጅን ማዳበሪያ ደረጃዎች በከፍተኛ ፍጥነት ሲጨምሩ ፎስፎረስ እና ናይትሮጅን አጠቃቀም ፍጆታ ይቀንሳል፡፡ ፎስፎረስ እና ናይትሮጅን ማዳበሪዎችን መጨመር በሁለቱም ቦታዎች ላይ ከፍተኛ የሆነ የበቆሎ የጥራጥሬ መጠን፤ የ 1000 ጥራጥሬዎች ክብደት እና ከመሬት በላይ ምርት ጨምሩዋል፡፡ ከፍተኛ የሆነ ምርት ማለትም 8093 ኪሎ ግራም በቆሎ በሄክታር በቴፒእና 8158 ኪሎ ግራም በቆሎ በሄክታር በአዲስ አለም የማምረት አቅምከ 92  እና 69 ኪሎ ገራምና ይትሮጂን ማዳበሪያ በሄክታር በመጨመር በቅደም ተከተል ተገኝቷል፡፡ከፍተኛ ምርት ማለትም 8918 ኪ.ግ በሄክታር በቴፒ እና 8298 ኪ.ግ በሄክታር በአዲስአለም፤ በሁለቱም ቦታዎች 40 ኪ.ግ ፎስፎረስ በሄክታር በመጨመር ማግኘት ተችሉዋል፡፡ በሁለቱም ቦታዎች 69 ኪሎ ግራም ናይትሮጂን በሄክታር፤ እንዲሁም 30 እና 40 ኪሎ ገራም ፎስፎረስ በሄክታር በመጨመር በአዲስአለም እና ቴፒ በቅደም ተከተል በጣም ብዙ ትርፍ ተገኝቷል፡፡ Abstract Low soil fertility, particularly nitrogen(N)and Phosphorus(P) are among the most yield-limiting nutrients in Ethiopia. Due to blanket NP application at the national level, the response of hybrid maize in Ethiopia is inconsistent and not satisfactory. Hence, a field experiment was initiated to investigate the response of hybrid maize (Zea mays L.) to the application of N and P fertilizer rates and their use efficiency on Nitososl. The study comprised two sets of experiments set I had seven levels of N each with30 kg P ha-1(0, 23, 46, 69, 92, 115 and 138 kg N ha-1) while set II had seven levels of phosphorus each with 92 kg N ha-1(0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 kg P ha-1). Both sets of experiments were replicated in two locations. The treatments were laid out separately in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Results showed that N and P rates of application significantly influenced yield and yield components, uptake and nutrient use efficiency. Generally, N and P use efficiency decreased with increased N and P fertilizer rates. Application of NP significantly increased the number of Kernels Cob-1, 1000-kernel weight, and above-ground dry biomass by at both locations. The maximum maize grain yield of 8093 kg ha-1at Tepi and 8158 kg ha-1at Addis Alem were obtained from 92kg N ha-1and 69kg N ha-1, respectively. The maximum grain yields of 8918kg ha-1at Tepi and 8298 kg ha-1at Addis Alem were produced by the application of 40kg Pha-1for both sites. Applications of 69kg Nha-1 at both sites, and 30 and 40 kg P ha-1were found to be most profitable rates at Addis Alem and Tepi, respectively

Effect of Weed Interference and Plant Density on Maize Grain Yield

Maize is one of most important food crop grown in Benishangul Gumuz Regional State, Ethiopia. However, its productivity is very low due to  inappropriate weed and soil nutrient management and lower plant density. Thus, a field experiment was carried out during 2016/17 cropping season to  evaluate effect of weeding frequency and plant densities on yield, and yield components of maize at Assosa Agricultural Research Centre. The treatments  consisted of four levels of weeding frequencies (weedy check, once hand weeding, twice hand weeding and weed free) and four levels of plant densities  (31,250,44,444, 53,333 and 62,500 plants ha-1), which were factorial arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The  results of the study revealed that grain yield was significantly (P<0.01) affected by the main effects of weeding frequency and plant density. The highest  grain yields (7394.5, and 7273.6 kg ha-1) were recorded for weed free and twice hand weeding, respectively and the lowest grain yield (918.9 kg ha-1) from  the weedy check. The highest grain yield (5485.8 kg ha-1) was obtained at a plant density of 53,333 plants ha-1 and the lowest (4457.2 kg ha-1) at a  density of 31,250 plants ha- 1. Grain yield was much more reduced due to competition from weeds (87.5%) than due to low plant density (18%). Significant  interaction effect of weeding frequency and plant density was observed on number of ears plant-1, number of kernel rows ear-1, above  ground dry biomass and relative grain yield loss. Twice hand weeding and a plant density of 53,333 plants ha-1 would be some more suitable practices for  attaining optimum grain yield for the hybrid maize BH 546 in the study area. &nbsp

Composition of Mineral Nutrients in Leaves of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Cultivated on Farmers Field: The Case of Six Districts in West Shoa Zone, Ethiopia

Plant nutrient deficiency could be one of the potential problems attributed to low potato productivity. The nutrient status of potato crop grown on  farmers’ field in six selected districts of West Shoa Zone, was examined. Leave samples collected at vegetative growth stage were analysed for various  nutrient contents (N, P, K, S, Mg, Ca, Zn, Mn, Cu, B, Mo). The leaf nutrient concentration (P, K, Mg, Ca, Zn, Mn, Cu, B and Mo) were determined using  Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrophotometer (ICPOES), whereas N, C and S were determined by CNS analyzer. Results showed that  the concentration of phosphorus and potassium in potato leaf did not vary much among the districts that ranged from 2.8 to 3.3 and from 31-35 mg/g  dry matter for P and K, respectively. About 97 and 75% of the surveyed fields showed P and K deficiencies in potato leaves, respectively. At 75% of the  surveyed fields, plants showed insufficient potassium concentration in the leaf when compared to the optimum range described in literatures. The  average nitrogen and sulphur concentration in potato leaf were also in a narrow range of 61-63 and 4.1-4.5 mg g-1 d.m, respectively for all the districts  and results obtained confirmed that plants were well supplied with N and S. Plants at all the surveyed fields of all the districts were also well supplied with  Ca and Mg, since no field showed insufficiency of these nutrients. The micronutrients concentrations in the leaf tissue were in the optimum range  and/or even above for most micronutrients. &nbsp

Effects of lime, vermicompost, and chemical P fertilizer on selected properties of acid soils at Ebantu District, Western highlands of Ethiopia

Peer reviewe

Vermicompost and chemical P fertilizer on yield of maize and soil properties in Ebantu District, Western Highlands of Ethiopia

Peer reviewe

Guideline for agronomy and soil fertility data collection in Ethiopia: National standard

Recently, recognition has been growing of the power of data and information for better decisionmaking and service provision in agriculture. To ensure good data quality, an agreed standard to collect, store, and share data along the agricultural value chain is required. With this background, the purpose of this guideline is to provide guidance on standardizing soil and agronomy data collection and thereby enhance temporal and spatial data interoperability. Standard field research design, data collection, and data reporting are required for well-informed meta-analyses and syntheses of agricultural research data as well as for making these data more accessible for calibration and evaluation of process-based models. Hence, this guideline is a contribution toward enabling meta-analysis of different data collected over years and/or space to accumulate evidence and generate new knowledge or insights to facilitate informed decision-making in the agricultural sector in general and in the crop development subsector. This guideline is compiled and intended for use by researchers, academicians, students, and other interested professionals in Ethiopia and beyond. The guideline is developed based on accepted standards and procedures in the field. Nevertheless, it is not exhaustive in its coverage of the soil and agronomic data types and crops grown in the country. Hence, additions and updates depending on the development of research facilities, the ever-changing focus of agricultural research and production systems, and advances in technology are warranted

Nitrogen deficiency tolerance and responsiveness of durum wheat genotypes in Ethiopia

Development of low-nitrogen (N) tolerant and N-responsive durum wheat genotypes is required since nitrogen efficiency has emerged as a highly desirable trait from economic and environmental perspectives. Two hundred durum wheat genotypes were evaluated at three locations under optimum (ON) and low (LN) nitrogen conditions to screen genotypes for low-nitrogen tolerance and responsiveness to an optimum N supply. The results showed significant variations among the durum wheat genotypes for low-N tolerance and responsiveness. The average reduction in grain yield under the LN condition was 48.03% across genotypes. Only 17% of the genotypes tested performed well (grain yield reduction <40%) under LN conditions. Based on the absolute grain yield, biomass yield, and normalized difference vegetative index value, on average, 32, 14, 17, and 37% of the tested genotypes were classified as efficient and responsive, efficient and nonresponsive, inefficient and responsive, and inefficient and nonresponsive, respectively. Considering the absolute and relative grain yield, biomass yield, normalized difference vegetative index values, and stress tolerance indices as selection criteria, 17 genotypes were chosen for subsequent breeding. Among the screening indices, geometric mean productivity, stress tolerance index, yield index, and stress susceptibility index exhibited positive and significant correlations with grain yield under both N conditions; hence, either of these traits can be used to select low-N-tolerant genotypes. The common genotypes identified as LN-tolerant and responsive to N application in this study could be used as parental donors for developing N-efficient and responsive durum wheat varieties

Effect of land use types in Miesa Watershed on soil quality and productivity

Improper land use and poor soil management practices became a great challenge to an attempt to attain increase crop production to meet the growing demand for food. Areas which were previously under natural forest are being converted to cropland and grazing lands. The ecological effects of these changes in land use have not been thoroughly investigated and documented in many parts of Ethiopia. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of land use types on physicochemical and biological properties of soil and hence on soil fertility and soil productivity. In order to investigate soil fertility status, soil samples collected from different land use types (cultivated land, grazing land and natural forest) from the upper 0-20 cm depth were analyzed for soil quality parameters such as soil pH, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorous and potassium and micro nutrients (Cu, Mn, Zn and Fe) contents as well as for microbial biomass. To investigate the effect of land use type on soil productivity, the study also involved growing maize crop in plastic pot filled with soil samples taken from each land use type and crop performance was assessed based on plant height, leaf number per plant, shoot and root weights and root to shoot ratio. The results obtained showed that soil taken from natural forestland had higher value of soil quality parameters such as: organic matter, total nitrogen and available phosphorus and potassium contents. Other soil quality parameters such as CEC, microbial population and micronutrient contents were also superior for forestland than for the other land use types. Crop growth parameters such as plant height, number of leaves per plant, shoot and root weights were all significantly higher for plan grown in soils taken from forestland than from the other land use types. The results clearly demonstrated that the different land use types had significant effects on soil quality and productivity suggesting that a change from forestland to the other land use types aggravated soil degradation, thereby resulting in soil fertility and productivity decline and hence in reducing crop productivity.Keywords: Land use types, Soil management practices, Crop production, Soil fertility, Soil productivity, Miesa Watershe