Dry Matter Yield and Nutrient Uptakes of Wollega Coffee Seedlings as Influenced by Lime and Coffee Husk Compost Amendments at Western Ethiopia

Bikila Takala

doi:10.11648/j.ijaas.20210704.16

Abstract

Nursery experiment was conducted at Haru Agricultural Research Sub center of Jimma Agricultural Research Center, Western Ethiopia, to investigate dry matter yield and its nutrient uptake of Arabica coffee seedlings under different lime and coffee husk compost rates and establish optimum combination of these agricultural inputs that produce seedlings with better dry matter yield for field planting. The experiment included four levels of lime (0, 1.6, 3.2 and 4.8 t ha-1) and coffee husk compost (0, 5, 10 and 15 t ha-1) and laid out in a factorial experiment arranged in randomized complete block design with three replications. Nutrient uptake and dry matter yield data of coffee seedlings were collected and subjected to analysis of variance using SAS package and treatment means were compared at 0.05 probability using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. The results revealed that lime and coffee husk compost rates significantly (P < 0.01) affected NPK uptake and total dry matter yield of coffee seedlings. The highest NPK uptake and total dry matter yield of coffee seedling were obtained from the application of 15 t ha-1 coffee husk compost and combined lime and coffee husk compost at the modest levels of 3.2 t ha-1 lime and 10 t ha-1 coffee husk compost with a nonsignificant variation. From the study, it can be concluded that application of 15 t ha-1 coffee husk compost or combining 10 t ha-1 of coffee husk compost and 3.2 t ha-1 of agricultural lime could be a promising alternative amendment for acid soil management and production of vigorous Wollega coffee seedlings with high nutrient uptake and high dry matter yield in Haru areas, western Ethiopia.

Highlights

Coffee (Coffea arabica L.), originated in Ethiopia, is the second major traded commodity following to oil [1] and plays a vital role in the balancing of trade between developed and developing countries
Ethiopia is the largest producer of coffee in Sub-Saharan Africa and is the fifth largest coffee producer in the world next to Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia and Indonesia, contributing about 7-10% of total world coffee production [3]
The study was conducted at the Haru Agricultural Research Sub-Center (HARSC) in West Wollega zone, Oromia National Regional State, Western Ethiopia

Summary

Introduction

Coffee (Coffea arabica L.), originated in Ethiopia, is the second major traded commodity following to oil [1] and plays a vital role in the balancing of trade between developed and developing countries. Coffee is an important foreign exchange commodity, contributing in various degrees to the national income of the producing countries [2]. Despite the existence of enormous genetic diversity and importance of the crop in the national economy of the country, its production potential hardly exceeds 0.67 ton ha-1 [4]. Such a low productivity of the crop mainly stems from drought, inadequate or excessive light or shade, low soil fertility and undulating topography and associated factors, such as soil erosion and soil acidity [5,6,7,8,9].

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