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Barley and wheat nutrient responses for Shewa, Ethiopia
Author(s) -
Liben Feyera M.,
Midega Tesfaye,
Tufa Tolcha,
Wortmann Charles S.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.1002/agj2.20020
Subject(s) - hectare , hordeum vulgare , nutrient , agronomy , yield (engineering) , yield gap , fertilizer , mathematics , biology , crop yield , zoology , poaceae , agriculture , ecology , materials science , metallurgy
Hulless barley ( Hordeum vulgare L. var. nudum Hook. f.) and wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) are important crops for the highlands of western Shewa in Ethiopia. Information is scarce regarding the determination of fertilizer recommendations for barley and wheat with location specificity. On‐farm trials were conducted to determine yield response to N and P and to diagnose K‐Mg‐S‐Zn‐B deficiencies in western Shewa. Grain yields were higher and responses to N and P were greater for these trials compared with results from earlier trials. Grain yield increases occurred with N application for all trials, ranging from 0.42 to 2.8 Mg ha −1 for barley and from 1.4 to 3.8 Mg ha −1 for wheat, fitting curvilinear to plateau or quadratic functions. Barley yield was maximized with 60 kg ha −1 N, and 98% of maximum yield was achieved with 50 kg ha −1 N, but wheat yield was projected to maximize with >100 kg ha −1 N. About 50% of the trials had yield increases with P application. Many farmers in this area are financially constrained regarding fertilizer use and can achieve a mean of 48% greater net return on their investment with the application at 50% rather than 100% of the rate to maximize profit per hectare. The yields and response to applied nutrients were generally less with earlier results compared with the current results, whereas the economically optimal rate of nutrient application or the rate expected to maximize net return per hectare to nutrient application was similar or slightly less for the earlier results. The profit opportunity with fertilizer use in western Shewa is great for N, less for P, and negligible for K‐Mg‐S‐Zn‐B.