Effect of Municipal Solid Waste Compost, Farm Yard Manure, Inorganic Fertilizers and Their Combinations on Potato Yield in Wolmera District, Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was conducted in Wolmera district of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. The main research objective was to evaluate the effect of municipal solid waste compost on potato yield in comparison to inorganic fertilizers and farm yard manure and combined applications. The experimental design was a factorial in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The treatments were: i) combination of diammonium phosphate (97.5 kg/ha), urea (82.5 kg/ha) and municipal solid waste compost (10,000 kg/ha), ii) combination of diammonium phosphate (97.5 kg/ha), urea (82.5 kg/ha) and farm yard manure (10,000 kg/ha), iii) diammonium phosphate (195k g/ha) and urea (165 kg/ha), iv) farm yard manure (20,000 kg/ha), v) municipal solid waste compost (20,000 kg/ha), and vi) control. The findings of the research indicated that the combination of municipal solid waste compost and inorganic fertilizers resulted in the highest total tuber yield and total marketable yield, 18.2±0.7 ton/ha and 17.8±0.7 ton/ha, respectively, with 149% relative marketable yield advantage over control. Sole application of municipal solid waste compost was also resulted in significant (P=.05) potato yield increment compared to the control. It resulted in an increase of marketable potato tuber yield advantage of 52% over the control with total marketable yield of 10.9±0.9 ton/ha. Hence, combined use of municipal solid waste compost and inorganic fertilizers may be a promising option for poor potato farmers around the City of Addis Ababa.