Evaluation of tillage and planting method under conservation farming for soil and crop productivity in the Dryland areas of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia
Keywords:
Conservation farming, Conventional tillage, planting basin, Tie-ridge, MulchingAbstract
Moisture conservation, minimum tillage and residue retention are conservation farming management options that may enhance crop yield and soil fertility sustainably in the dry land areas of Ethiopia. Study on conservation farming (CF) was conducted in moisture deficit area of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia from 2013-2014 cropping seasons. The experiment conducted both on station and on farmers’ field. Included treatments were; conventional tillage + fertilizer, conventional tillage without fertilizer, subsoiler + fertilizer, subsoiler + tie ridging + fertilizer subsoiler + tie-ridging + intercropping+ fertilizer, subsoiler + tie-ridging + intercropping + fertilizer, subsoiler + tie ridging + transplanting, subsoiler + planting basin +fertilizer and subsoiler + transplanting on planting basin+ fertilizer. Significantly, more variation was observed among the tillage practices for the studied agronomic traits. Higher mean Sorghum grain yield of 2.40 (+1.5 and 1.4 t ha-1 over the conventional treatments with and without fertilizer respectively and 2.50 t ha-1 (+1.6 and +1.5 t ha-1 over the conventional treatments with and without fertilizer respectively) were recorded from transplanted sorghum seedlings and directly planted sorghum seeds in planting basin respectively in the researcher managed conservation plots using early maturing ‘Hormat’ variety. Similarly, 2.40 t ha-1 and 2.38 t ha-1 grain yield were obtained from tie-ridging and transplanting at planting basin respectively, while the lowest mean grain yield of 0.94 t ha-1 was obtained from the conventional tillage without fertilize treatment in the farmers managed conservation plots. Mean Grain yield of 3.90 and 5.60 t/ha were also obtained from ‘Kodem’ and ‘Abaere’ Sorghum land races, respectively planted in basin at farmers field. Some soil chemical properties (like total nitrogen, available phosphorus and organic carbon) on the conservation treatments show increment. Participating farmers also select transplanting and direct planting on planting basin tillage techniques first and second respectively based on over all crop performance. Planting basin supported conservation tillage packages can enhance crop, water and soil productivity in sustainably and help mitigate the effects of prolonged dry spells in the moisture deficit of Tigray
Downloads
References
Abdelkdair A and Schultz R (2005) Water harvesting in a ‘runoff-catchment’agroforestry system in the dry lands of Ethiopia. Agroforestry systems, 63(3), pp.291-298.
Assefa D, Belay M, Tsegay D, and Haile M (2007) Transplanting sorghum as a means of ensuring food security in low rainfall sorghum growing areas of northern Ethiopia. Drylands Coordination Group (DCG) Report No. 48, Drylands Coordination Group c/o Miljøhuset G9.
Barron J, Rockström J, Gichuki F and Hatibu N (2003) Dry spell analysis and maize yields for two semi-arid locations in east Africa. Agricultural and forest meteorology, 117(1), pp.23-37.
Belay A, Gebrekidan H, Uloro Y (1998). Effect of tied ridges on grain yield response of Maize (Zea mays L.) to application of crop residue and residual N and P oil two soil types at Alemaya, Ethiopia. S. Afr. J. Plant Sci. 15(4): 123-129.
Benites J (2008). Effect of no-tillage on conservation of the soil and soil fertility. In: Goddard, T., Zo¨ bisch, M.A., Gan, Y.T., Ellis W, Watson, A., Sombatpanit, S. (Eds.),
Bescansa P, Imaz M J, Virto, I, Enrique, A and Hoogmoed, W B (2006). Soil water retention as affected by tillage and residue management in semiarid Spain. Soil and Tillage Research, 87(1), pp.19-27.
Beyene D (1988). Soil fertility research on some Ethiopian Vertisols. In Proceedings of a Conference Held at ILCA on the management of vertisols in Sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 223-231).
Blowing S, Gibbon P, Dike M, Taylor A (2007). Certified organic export production–implications for economic welfare and gender equity amongst smallholder farmers in tropical Africa. Policy brief (to be published by UNCTAD).
Bradford JM, Peterson GA (2000). Conservation tillage. Handbook of soil science. 2000:247-70.
Bremner J M and C S Mulvaney (1982). Total nitrogen. In : A.L. Page. R.H. Miller. and D.R. Keeney, Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2. Argon. Mongr. ASA and SSSA,Madison.
Brhane G, Wortmann CS, Mamo M, Gebrekidan H, Belay A (2006). Micro-basin tillage for grain sorghum production in semiarid areas of Northern Ethiopia. Agronomy journal 98(1):124-8.
César E and Ekbom A ( 2013). Ethiopia environmental and climate change policy brief. Sida's Helpdesk for Environment and Climate Change.
CIMMYT Economics Program( 1988). From agronomic data to farmer recommendations: an economics-training manual (No. 27). CIMMYT.
Cottenie A (1980). Soil and plant testing as a basis of fertilizer recommendations (No. 38/2).
Desale KA(2014). Conservation tillage implementation under rainfed agriculture: Implication for soil fertility, green water management, soil loss and grain yield in the Ethiopian Highlands.International Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 4 (9), pp. 268-280.
Doran JW, Smith MS (21987). Organic matter management and utilization of soil and fertilizer nutrients. Soil fertility and organic matter as critical components of production systems. 53-72.
Gebrekidan H and Uloro Y (2002). Soil and water conservation (tied ridges and planting methods) on cultivated lands: The case of eastern Ethiopian. Soil and Water Management Research Program, Alemaya University (AU).
Hassane A, Martin P, Reij C (2000). Water harvesting, land rehabilitation and household food security in Niger: IFAD's soil and water conservation project in Illéla District
Hine R. and Pretty J (2008). Organic agriculture and food security in Africa. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): Geneva and New York.
Kertesz K, Badonyi K, Madarasasz B and Csepinszky B (2008). Environmental aspects of conventional and conservation tillage-results of the SOWAP project in Hungary. No-till Farming Systems"(T. Goddard, MA Zo bisch, YT Gan, Ellis W, A. Watson and S. Sombatpanit, eds.), pp.1-554.
Kidane D (2014). Conservation tillage implementation under rainfed agriculture: Implication for soil fertility, green water management, soil loss and grain yield in the Ethiopian Highlands. Int. J. Agric. Sci, 4(9), pp.268-280.
Lal R (2000). Mulching effects on soil physical quality of an alfisol in western Nigeria. Land Degradation & Development, 11(4), pp.383-392.
Mando A (1997). The effect of mulch on the water balance of Sahelian crusted-soils. SoilTechnology, 11:121-138.
Matson PA, Naylor R and Ortiz-Monasterio I (1998). Integration of environmental, agronomic, and economic aspects of fertilizer management. Science, 280(5360), pp.112-115.
Mesfin T, Tesfahunegn GB, Wortmann CS, Nikus O and Mamo M (2009). Tied-ridging and fertilizer use for sorghum production in semi-arid Ethiopia. Nutrient cycling in agroecosystems, 85(1), pp.87-94.
Montgomery DC (1991). Design and analysis of experiment.3rd edition. John Wiley and Sons, New York. USA.
Morris RA, Garrity DP. Resource capture and utilization in intercropping: water. Field Crops Research. 1993 Sep 1;34(3-4):303-17.
Ngigi NS (2005). Rainwater harvesting for improved food security, promising technologies in greater Horn of Africa. Published by Kenyan rainwater, Nairobi, Kenya. No-till Farming Systems. Special Publication No. 3, World Association of Soiland Water Conservation, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 1–554.
Nyamangara J, Nyengerai K, Masvaya EN, Tirivavi R, Mashingaidze N, Mupangwa W, DimesJ, Hove L, and Twomlow S (2014). Effect of conservation agriculture on maize yield in the semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe. Experimental agriculture, 50(02), pp.159-177.
Olsen S R, C V Cole, F S Watanabe and L A Dean (1954). Estimation of available phosphorus in soil by extraction with sodium bicarbonate. USDA Circular 939:1-19.
Oweis T (1997). Supplemental irrigation: A highly efficient water-use practice. ICARDA.
Pawluk RR, Sandor JA and Tabor JA (1992). The role of indigenous soil knowledge in agricultural development. Journal of soil and water conservation, 47(4), pp.298-302.
Rao, MR and Mathuva MN (2000). Legumes for improving maize yields and income in semi-arid Kenya. Agriculture, ecosystems & environment, 78(2), pp.123-137.
Reddy MS and Willey RW (1981). Growth and resource use studies in an intercrop of pearl millet/groundnut. Field Crops Research, 4, pp.13-24.
Rhoades JD (1982). Cation exchange capacity. Methods of soil analysis. Part 2. Chemical and microbiological properties, (methodsofsoilan2), pp.149-157.
Rockstrom J (2000). Water resources management in smallholder farms in Eastern and Southern Africa: an overview. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Part B: Hydrology, Oceans and Atmosphere, 25(3), pp.275-283.
Rockström J, Barron J and Fox P (2003). Water productivity in rain-fed agriculture: challenges and opportunities for smallholder farmers in drought-prone tropical agroecosystems. Water productivity in agriculture: Limits and opportunities for improvement, 85199(669), p.8.
Rockström J, Kaumbutho P, Mwalley J, Nzabi AW, Temesgen M, Mawenya L, Barron J, Mutua J and Damgaard-Larsen S( 2009). Conservation farming strategies in East and Southern Africa: yields and rain water productivity from on-farm action research. Soil and Tillage Research, 103(1), pp.23-32.
SAS institute (2013). The statistical analysis software system for windows. Version 9.4, SAS institute INC.,Cary NC., USA.
Stroosnijder L and van Rheenen T( 2001). Agro-silvo-pastoral land use in Sahelian villages.
Taddese G (2001). Land degradation: a challenge to Ethiopia. Environmental management, 27(6), pp.815-824.
Tefera B (2002). Nature and causes of land degradation in the Oromiya Region: A review (Vol. 36). ILRI (aka ILCA and ILRAD).
Tekalign T, Haque I and Aduayi EA (1991). Soil, plant, water, fertilizer, animal manure and compost analysis. Working document, (13).
Temesgen M, Rockstrom J, Savenije HHG, Hoogmoed WB (2009). Conservation tillage implements and systems for stallholder farmers in the semi-arid Ethiopia. Soil Till. Res., 104: 185-191.
Temesgen, M., Rockstrom, J., Savenije, H.H.G., Hoogmoed, W.B. and Alemu, D., 2008. Determinants of tillage frequency among smallholder farmers in two semi-arid areas in Ethiopia. Physics and chemistry of the earth, parts A/B/C, 33(1), pp.183-191.
Verhulst, N., Govaerts, B., Verachtert, E., Castellanos-Navarrete, A., Mezzalama, M., Wall, P., Deckers, J. and Sayre, K.D., 2010. Conservation agriculture, improving soil quality for sustainable production systems. Advances in soil science: food security and soil quality. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp.137-208.
Walkley A and Black IA (1934). An examination of the method for determining soil organic matter, and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil science, 37(1), pp.29-38
Walkley A and Black IA (1934). An examination of the method for determining soil organic matter, and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil science, 37(1), pp.29-38.
Wiggins S (2009). Can the smallholder model deliver poverty reduction and food security.
Wiggins S and Keats S (2013). Looking Back, Peering Forward: Food Prices and the Food Price Spike of 2007/08. London: Overseas Development Institute, www. odi. org/sites/odi. org. uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/8339. pdf (accessed 10 July 2015).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2019 Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/
