Effect of Inter and Intra Row Spacing on Growth, Yield and Yield Components of Sorghum (<i>Sorghum bicolor </i>(<I>L.</I>) <i>Moench</i>) at Assosa District, Western Ethiopia

Abstract

Studies on plant populations are scarce and poorly recorded in western Ethiopia, which is a necessary condition for successfully cultivating the sorghum crop. To identify the ideal planting spacing for sorghum productivity in the main cropping season, this experiment was carried out at the Assosa Agricultural Research Center, Benishangul-Gumuz Region, in the 2020 and 2021 cropping seasons. The experiment was set up in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. It had a factorial configuration with three levels of inter-row spacing (70 cm, 75 cm, and 80 cm) and four levels of intra-row spacing (15 cm, 20 cm, 25 cm, and 30 cm). The current finding indicates that plant height decreased as intra-row space increased. Inter n and intra-row spacing had a substantial interaction effect on grain yield (P<0.01) As a consequence, a planting spacing of 75 cm by 20 cm produced the highest grain production (4784.6 kg ha^-1). Similar to this, the main effect of 20 cm intra-row spacing produced a significant maximum head weight (12.7 kg/plot). At low population levels, yield reductions were observed (75 cm inter and 30cm intra row). The findings indicate that the decrease in final grain output was a result of an increase in intra-plant separation from 20 cm to 30 cm between plants. In general, plants placed properly provided a great output, whereas plants spaced widely produced a poor yield. Therefore, to maintain sorghum productivity with the necessary spacing, improved sorghum varieties in Assosa and other regions with comparable agro-ecologies can be encouraged to use 75 cm inter-row spacing and 20 cm intra-row spacing.