Comparison of cyanobacterial bio-fertilizer with urea on three crops and two soils of Ethiopia

Although chemical fertilizers have long been used to meet the high demand of nitrogen (N), the most common limiting nutrient to plant growth, the frequent use of this fertilizer gradually deteriorates soil fertility in addition to its high cost, lower supply and agronomic use efficiency in Ethiopia....

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Asmamaw, M., Wolde, G., Yohannes, M., Yigrem, S., Woldemeskel, Endalkachew
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Academic Journals 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/107005
_version_ 1855519952345235456
author Asmamaw, M.
Wolde, G.
Yohannes, M.
Yigrem, S.
Woldemeskel, Endalkachew
author_browse Asmamaw, M.
Wolde, G.
Woldemeskel, Endalkachew
Yigrem, S.
Yohannes, M.
author_facet Asmamaw, M.
Wolde, G.
Yohannes, M.
Yigrem, S.
Woldemeskel, Endalkachew
author_sort Asmamaw, M.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Although chemical fertilizers have long been used to meet the high demand of nitrogen (N), the most common limiting nutrient to plant growth, the frequent use of this fertilizer gradually deteriorates soil fertility in addition to its high cost, lower supply and agronomic use efficiency in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, N-fixing cyanobacterial biofertilizers are eco-friendly, and currently considered important to support the developing organic agriculture. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the potential of cyanobacterial biofertilizer for the growth and yield of three commonly growing crops in Ethiopia: maize, kale, and pepper under Alfisol and Andosol, and to investigate the potential contribution of cyanobacteria biofertilizer in selected soil fertility parameters. Three independent factorial experiments were conducted simultaneously in the greenhouse. Each experiment included a factorial combination of four nitrogen fertilizer sources applied at recommendation rate for each crop (control, urea, dried cyanobacteria, and liquid cyanobacteria,) and two soil types with acidic and alkaline pH (Alfisols and Andosols, respectively) arranged in a complete randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Application of dried and liquid cyanobacterial biofertilizer treatments significantly improves the soil N, soil organic carbon (SOC) and available P, Fe and Zn. Cyanobacteria treatments were also found to reduce or maintain the mean soil pH. Accordingly, maximum values of all the vegetative growth attributes of kale, and maize were obtained from the application of two comparable-fertilizer treatments: air-dried cyanobacteria and urea while for pepper crops only dried cyanobacteria. Concentrations of N, P, Zn, and Fe in leaves of kale, pepper, and maize were also significantly increased by air-dried cyanobacterial biofertilizer. Overall, dried cyanobacteria improved the growth and yield of the three crops, and the fertility of the soils. Therefore, the use of dry cyanobacterial biofertilizer could be recommended as a supplementary N source to inorganic fertilizer for kale, pepper and maize production in both study sites.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace107005
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2019
publishDateRange 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher Academic Journals
publisherStr Academic Journals
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1070052024-10-03T07:40:51Z Comparison of cyanobacterial bio-fertilizer with urea on three crops and two soils of Ethiopia Asmamaw, M. Wolde, G. Yohannes, M. Yigrem, S. Woldemeskel, Endalkachew crops fertilizers soil Although chemical fertilizers have long been used to meet the high demand of nitrogen (N), the most common limiting nutrient to plant growth, the frequent use of this fertilizer gradually deteriorates soil fertility in addition to its high cost, lower supply and agronomic use efficiency in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, N-fixing cyanobacterial biofertilizers are eco-friendly, and currently considered important to support the developing organic agriculture. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the potential of cyanobacterial biofertilizer for the growth and yield of three commonly growing crops in Ethiopia: maize, kale, and pepper under Alfisol and Andosol, and to investigate the potential contribution of cyanobacteria biofertilizer in selected soil fertility parameters. Three independent factorial experiments were conducted simultaneously in the greenhouse. Each experiment included a factorial combination of four nitrogen fertilizer sources applied at recommendation rate for each crop (control, urea, dried cyanobacteria, and liquid cyanobacteria,) and two soil types with acidic and alkaline pH (Alfisols and Andosols, respectively) arranged in a complete randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Application of dried and liquid cyanobacterial biofertilizer treatments significantly improves the soil N, soil organic carbon (SOC) and available P, Fe and Zn. Cyanobacteria treatments were also found to reduce or maintain the mean soil pH. Accordingly, maximum values of all the vegetative growth attributes of kale, and maize were obtained from the application of two comparable-fertilizer treatments: air-dried cyanobacteria and urea while for pepper crops only dried cyanobacteria. Concentrations of N, P, Zn, and Fe in leaves of kale, pepper, and maize were also significantly increased by air-dried cyanobacterial biofertilizer. Overall, dried cyanobacteria improved the growth and yield of the three crops, and the fertility of the soils. Therefore, the use of dry cyanobacterial biofertilizer could be recommended as a supplementary N source to inorganic fertilizer for kale, pepper and maize production in both study sites. 2019-03 2020-02-07T15:43:55Z 2020-02-07T15:43:55Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/107005 en Open Access Academic Journals Asmamaw, M., Wolde, G., Yohannes, M., Yigrem, S., Woldemeskel, E. 2019. Comparison of cyanobacterial bio-fertilizer with urea on three crops and two soils of Ethiopia. African Journal of Agricultural Research 14:588-596.
spellingShingle crops
fertilizers
soil
Asmamaw, M.
Wolde, G.
Yohannes, M.
Yigrem, S.
Woldemeskel, Endalkachew
Comparison of cyanobacterial bio-fertilizer with urea on three crops and two soils of Ethiopia
title Comparison of cyanobacterial bio-fertilizer with urea on three crops and two soils of Ethiopia
title_full Comparison of cyanobacterial bio-fertilizer with urea on three crops and two soils of Ethiopia
title_fullStr Comparison of cyanobacterial bio-fertilizer with urea on three crops and two soils of Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of cyanobacterial bio-fertilizer with urea on three crops and two soils of Ethiopia
title_short Comparison of cyanobacterial bio-fertilizer with urea on three crops and two soils of Ethiopia
title_sort comparison of cyanobacterial bio fertilizer with urea on three crops and two soils of ethiopia
topic crops
fertilizers
soil
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/107005
work_keys_str_mv AT asmamawm comparisonofcyanobacterialbiofertilizerwithureaonthreecropsandtwosoilsofethiopia
AT woldeg comparisonofcyanobacterialbiofertilizerwithureaonthreecropsandtwosoilsofethiopia
AT yohannesm comparisonofcyanobacterialbiofertilizerwithureaonthreecropsandtwosoilsofethiopia
AT yigrems comparisonofcyanobacterialbiofertilizerwithureaonthreecropsandtwosoilsofethiopia
AT woldemeskelendalkachew comparisonofcyanobacterialbiofertilizerwithureaonthreecropsandtwosoilsofethiopia