Agronomic and Economic Evaluation of Common Bean-Tef in Double Cropping System

Abstract

Double-cropping of cereals with legumes is a usual practice by small-holder farmers in southern parts of Ethiopia but crop compatibility and sequencing are the major problems for their soil fertility as well as profitability. Thus, it was important to conduct research on double cropping systems that can make the farmers more profitable on small land to reduce crop failure with current climate change. Thus, an experiment was done to evaluate the effects of these crops as double cropping on the productivity of tef and to evaluate the agronomic and economic value of common bean-tef in double cropping system for an improved production system at Shashemene district during the cropping season of 2022 and 2023 using RCBD design. The experiment consisting of twelve treatments including one common bean and three N rate with three tef varieties was sowed as the preceding and succeeding crop respectively and three sole tef varieties used as a control. The preceding crop the Hawassa dume common bean variety had 8 ton/ha dry biomass and 35 Qt/ha grain yield. The variance analysis showed that all the growth and yield parameters of tef except harvest index were significant such as Plant Height, Panicle Length, Straw Yield, Biomass yield, Grain Yield (p<0.05).