Abstract
Abstract The lack of sustainable soil fertility management is a critical challenge for crop production in the world. The problem is more serious in the East Gojjam Zone highlands. Integrated use of lime, manure, and chemical fertilizers is considered as a good approach for sustainable crop production on acidic soils. In 2016 and 2017, a field experiment was conducted to determine the effect of soil amendments on soil fertility and tef productivity in the Gozamin district. Factorial combinations of two rates of lime (0 and 2 t ha−1), two rates of NP fertilizers (0/0 and 46/20 kg N/P ha−1), and three rates of cattle manure (0, 10, and 15 t ha−1) were laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications. The results showed that applying lime in combination with NP fertilizer and manure significantly improved soil chemical properties. Panicle length, effective tillers, and thousand seeds weight of tef increased from 25.1 to 44.4 cm, 2.8 to 11.3, and 0.23 to 0.37 g, respectively, when 10 t ha−1 manure and recommended NP fertilizer were applied together. The highest tef grain yield of 2.31 t ha−1 and net benefit of 2,252.91 USD ha−1 were obtained from the interaction of 10 t ha−1 cattle manure, 46/20 kg ha−1 N/P fertilizer, and 2 t ha−1 lime. This study recommends the combined application of 2 t ha−1 lime, 10 t ha−1 cattle manure, and 46/20 kg ha−1 N/P fertilizer as an effective amendment to improve soil chemical properties and yield of tef in acidic soils of northwest Ethiopian highlands.
Highlights
Ethiopia’s main stable crop is tef (Eragrostis tef [Zucc.] Trotter)
The results showed that applying cattle manure in combination with NP fertilizer and lime significantly improved soil chemical properties compared to the control
Growth parameters and yield components of tef were significantly affected by the interaction effects of cattle manure and NP fertilizers
Summary
Ethiopia’s main stable crop is tef (Eragrostis tef [Zucc.] Trotter). Tef is the most popular cereal grain for making injera, Ethiopia’s typical basic diet [2]. Tef grain and straw have higher retail prices than other cereals. Tef has the highest cultivation area share (24.32%) with about 3 million hectares and ranks second in grain production (17.22%) with 5.44 million tons annually, after maize [4]. Tef was the first cash crop in the study areas, but its productivity (1.4 t ha−1) is low [5] compared to the national average tef yield (1.70 t ha−1) [4], and the highest yields of 3.08 and 2.70 t ha−1 were reported by Birhanu et al [6] and Wato [7]
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