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Nutrients Limiting Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] Crop Yield on Vertisols in Yilmana Densa, Upper Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopia

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Abstract

Currently, the government of Ethiopia is supplying fertilizers containing N, P, S, Zn & B. However, many researchers argued that N and P are the only yield-limiting nutrients. The current study was conducted to identify yield-limiting nutrients for tef and to assess the inherent nutrient supplying status of Vertisols. The experiments were carried out during the 2020/2021cropping season under screen house, on-station, and on-farm conditions at Yilmana Densa district of Amhara region, Ethiopia. Tef (Quncho variety) was used as a test crop. This trial contained ten treatments including: control, PKSZnB, NKSZnB, NPSZnB, NPKZnB, NPKSB, NPKSZn, NPKSZnB, NP, and NPS. Each pot with a height of 0.185 m and volume of 0.186 m3 was filled with 5 kg of soil which was taken from 0 to 20 cm depth by auger. The pot trial was laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD), while the field trials were laid out in a completely randomized block design (RCBD) with three replications. The gross plot area was 7.5 m2 for field experiments. Yield-limiting nutrients were identified through a nutrient omission trial. The data were analyzed using SAS version 9.0, and significant treatment means were separated by using LSD at P ≤ 0.05. The nutrient contents of the soils determined from the composite samples collected before planting indicated that TN (0.126% on-station and 0.125% on-farm) was low. The Av.P (3.89 mg kg−1on-station and 4.24 mg kg−1 on-farm) content of the soil was also very low. The result revealed that omission of N and P highly significantly (P < 0.01) reduced grain yield, straw yield, and yield components of tef in all experiments. The results were affected by inadequate supply of N and P nutrients. However, the absence of potassium, sulfur, zinc, and boron did not show significant (P < 0.05) yield reduction. The lowest grain and biomass yields (2.2 and 7.9 g/pot under greenhouse), (177.2 and 533.3 kg ha−1 on-station), and (24.9 and 533.3 kg ha−1 on-farm), respectively, were recorded from omission of N. The low yield of tef mainly caused by poor soil fertility. As a result of N and P omissions, grain yield decreased by 81.6% and 80.7% on-station, by 96.5% and 85.2% on-farm, and by 58.0% and 54.2% in the pot experiment, respectively. In addition, omission of P also resulted in significant grain and biomass yields (2.4 and 8.1 g/pot under screenhouse), (191.1 and 1066.7 kg ha−1 on-station), and (106.4 and 533.3 kg ha−1 on-farm), respectively. Application of K, S, Zn, and B did not have any effect on tef yield over the applied NP. The uptake of N, P, K, S, Zn, and B by tef grain and straw was low in N and P nutrient omissions. Based on these results, N and P were identified as the most yield-limiting nutrients. Application of NP is better than K, S, Zn, and B containing fertilizers for tef production.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Adet Agricultural Research Center and Amhara Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) for providing financial support and study grant, Debere Birhan Agricultural Research Center for facilitating laboratory analysis and Bahir Dar University College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Adet Agricultural Research Center, Adet, Ethiopia

    Beamlaku Alemayehu & Tadele Amare

  2. Department of Natural Resource Management, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Enyew Adgo

Authors
  1. Beamlaku Alemayehu
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  2. Enyew Adgo
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  3. Tadele Amare
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Contributions

BA Performed conceptualization, conducted the experiment, data collection, formal analysis, writing and original draft preparation. EA did supervision, formal analysis, editing and reviewing. TA assisted in writing, performed conceptualization, supervision, formal analysis, editing and reviewing.

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Correspondence to Beamlaku Alemayehu.

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Alemayehu, B., Adgo, E. & Amare, T. Nutrients Limiting Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] Crop Yield on Vertisols in Yilmana Densa, Upper Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopia. J Plant Growth Regul 42, 2736–2748 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-022-10741-y

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