Abstract
Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. ) is one of the most important cereal crops in Ethiopia. However, the yield of the crop is low mainly due to low soil fertility and poor soil fertility management practices. Field experiment was conducted during 2017 cropping season in Siyadebrenawayu district , central Ethiopia with the objective to evaluate the effect of different blended fertilizer formulation of S, B, Zn and K on yield and yield components of bread wheat. The 14 treatments used for the field experiment were (1) control, (2) recommended NP(175 kgha -1 N+125 kgha -1 P 2 O 5 ), (3) S 1 (10.5 kgha -1 ), (4) S 2 (15.75 kgha -1 ), (5) S 3 (21 kgha -1 ), (6) S 1 B 1 (10.35 S, 0.15B) kgha -1 , (7) S 2 B 2 (15.5 S, 1.5B) kgha -1 , (8) S 3 B 3 (20.7 S, 3B) kgha -1 , (9) S 1 B 1 Zn 1 (11.1S, 0.15B, 3.3Zn) kgha -1 , (10) S 2 B 2 Zn 2 (16.65S, 1.5B, 4.95Zn) kgha -1 , (11) S 3 B 3 Zn 3 (22.2S, 3B, 6.6Zn) kgha -1 ,(12) S 1 B 1 Zn 1 K 1 (11.1S, 0.15B, 3.3Zn, 50K) kgha -1 , (13) S 2 B 2 Zn 2 K 2 (16,65S, 1.5B, 4.95Zn, 100K) kgha -1 and (14) S 3 B 3 Zn 3 K 3 (22.2S, 3B, 6.6Zn, 150K) kg ha -1 . The recommended NP fertilizers are equally applied to all treatments except control. The experiment was conducted in randomize complete block design with three replications. Data were collected on yield and yield components. Yield and yield components of bread wheat was significantly affected by the treatments except 1000-grain weight. The highest above ground dry biomass yield (14.29 tha -1 ), highest grain yield (5.77 tha -1 ) and straw yield (8.51 tha -1 ) was recorded from additional application of S, B, and Zn at T9 (NPS 1 B 1 Zn 1 ). The application of blended fertilizer NPS 1 B 1 Zn 1 increased the straw and grain yield by 35.45% and 19% respectively as compared to the recommended NP fertilizer. The highest net return (58443ETB ha -1 ) with (MRR %) 742.18 was obtained with application of blended fertilizer NPS 1 B 1 Zn 1 . It is clearly observed from collected data and soil analysis that application of K fertilizer is not responsive in study area but, S, B and Zn application at the minimum rate is responsive and economically feasible. Therefore, application of blended fertilizer NPS 1 B 1 Zn 1 (175 kgha -1 N+125 kgha -1 P 2 O 5 +11.1 kgha -1 S+3.3 kgha -1 Zn+0.15 kg ha -1 B) can be recommended for higher yield particularly in the study area and it is also economically feasible. Keywords : Biomass yield, blended fertilizer, economic feasibility, grain yield DOI : 10.7176/JBAH/9-15-02 Publication date : August 31 st 2019
Highlights
Wheat (Triticum spp.) is one of the major cereal crops grown in the highlands of Ethiopia and this region is regarded as the largest wheat producer in Sub-Saharan Africa (Efrem et al, 2000)
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different blended fertilizer formulation rates of S, B, Zn and K on yield and yield components of bread wheat in Siyadebrenawayu District and to evaluate the economic feasibility of the fertilizers
The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil was high and exchangeable K concentrations in the soil were adequate for crop production
Summary
Wheat (Triticum spp.) is one of the major cereal crops grown in the highlands of Ethiopia and this region is regarded as the largest wheat producer in Sub-Saharan Africa (Efrem et al, 2000). Though Ethiopian agro-climatic condition is suitable for wheat production, the productivity is low (2.67 tha-1) (CSA, 2017). This is because of depleted soil fertility, low levels of chemical fertilizer usage, limited knowledge on time and rate of fertilizer application, and the unavailability of other modern crop management inputs (Anderson and Schneider, 2010). As summarized by Tekalign et al (2001), nitrogen (N) is deficient in almost all soils and phosphorus (P) is deficient in about 70% of the soils in Ethiopia. This low nutrient content is due to erosion and absence of nutrient recycling
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