Integrated Nutrient Management for Enhancing and Sustaining Soil Fertility and Crop Productivity in Ethiopia

Negessa Gadisa

doi:10.7176/jnsr/11-21-02

Abstract

Agriculture remains the mainstay of Ethiopia’s economy. It contributes a large share of the national products growth. Despite the importance of this sector, soil fertility depletion and soil quality decline have been threatening the ecological and economic sustainability of crop production. In order to improve soil fertility, soil nutrient have been replenished through organic input, chemical application, or combination of both sources. The objective of this paper was to review effect of integrated nutrient management in improving soil fertility and productivity of major crops in Ethiopian context. Soil fertility management practices such as animal manure, crop residues, crop rotation, mineral fertilizer, compost etc to cope with declining soil fertility, which differ among farmers and among locations. Therefore, the use of integrated soil fertility management strategy with inclusion and combination of chemical fertilizer, organic input and using improved crop varieties gives the better production and keeps the soil fertility status to a better level. The practice being under taken by the government, which is the use of fertilizers in blanket recommendation is not successful as a result of agro-climate, soil and the socio-economic condition of the farmer, resorting to sustainable integrated soil fertility management to get maximum yield without compromising the soil fertility status in the future, this is wise and needed to be followed. Keywords: Integrated nutrient management, Crop production, Soil fertility. DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/11-21-02 Publication date: November 30 th 2020

Highlights

Agriculture is the basis of most of the population and major driver of the national economy in Ethiopia
Legumes are known to add N and improve soil fertility, the frequency of legumes in the cropping system in Ethiopian highlands is less than 10% (Getachew et al, 2014), which implies that the probability of growing legume on the same land is only once in ten years
The longer years of this mixed farming goes side by side with local soil fertility management practices (Aseffa,2005; Hagos et al, 1999) such as animal manure, crop residues, crop rotation, mineral fertilizer, compost etc to cope with declining soil fertility, which differ among farmers and among locations (Elias, 2002)

Summary

Introduction

The two-year study result reported by Getachew (2014) in central high lands of the country showed that the integrated application of compost or manure with half the recommended NP fertilizer rate resulted in a comparable yield of wheat and tef as that of full NP dose, which could be considered as an alternative option for sustainable soil health and crop productivity. Various experiments have been conducted to evaluate crop response to the applications of organic and inorganic nutrient sources in different parts of the country Positive interactions between both inputs have often been observed and they are needed in the long term to sustain soil fertility and crop production (Getachew et al., 2016). Different combinations of N/P fertilizer 9/10/0, 32/10/4, 32/10/8, 9/10/8 and 64/20/0 kg ha-1 N/P and FYM t ha-1, respectively, were studied in Wolmera, Ethiopia to determine their effects on the growth and yield of wheat

Poor Soil

Treatment pH

Findings

Conclusions and Recommendations Poor