Understanding factors influencing wheat productivity in Ethiopian highlands

Increasing yields in farmer fields is a priority to address increasing food demands. The study was conducted within four wheat-growing areas in Ethiopia: Debre Birhan, Hosaina, Sinana and Maychew. The objectives were to identify (1) best-bet soil fertility management options based on agronomic perfo...

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Autores principales: Kihara, Job Maguta, Gurmessa, Biyensa Dubiwak, Tamene, Lulseged D., Amede, Tilahun, Sommer, Rolf
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/118130
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author Kihara, Job Maguta
Gurmessa, Biyensa Dubiwak
Tamene, Lulseged D.
Amede, Tilahun
Sommer, Rolf
author_browse Amede, Tilahun
Gurmessa, Biyensa Dubiwak
Kihara, Job Maguta
Sommer, Rolf
Tamene, Lulseged D.
author_facet Kihara, Job Maguta
Gurmessa, Biyensa Dubiwak
Tamene, Lulseged D.
Amede, Tilahun
Sommer, Rolf
author_sort Kihara, Job Maguta
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Increasing yields in farmer fields is a priority to address increasing food demands. The study was conducted within four wheat-growing areas in Ethiopia: Debre Birhan, Hosaina, Sinana and Maychew. The objectives were to identify (1) best-bet soil fertility management options based on agronomic performance and economic evaluation and (2) key yield-reducing factors in farmer fields based on an agronomic survey among 55 participating farmers. Two types of on-farm experiments were conducted: researcher-managed trials that tested combinations of nutrients, including micronutrients, organic resources or both over two cropping seasons and farmer-managed trials comparing ‘improved practice’ against ‘farmer’s practice’. Fertilizer treatment affected wheat productivity in Debre Birhan (p < 0.01), a site limited in sulphur. Here, full NPK increased yields over the control (p < 0.05), whereas a combination of NPK and manure was better than the application of manure as the only source of added nutrients (p < 0.05). Applying half the recommended NPK with micronutrients and manure achieved similar yields as the full fertilizer treatment. In Hosaina, treatment had no significant effect on wheat productivity, although a combination of NPK and zinc resulted in an additional 26–57% yield relative to the other treatments. In Maychew, a significant treatment effect (p < 0.05) was observed. Here, the treatment with lower rates of nitrogen and phosphorous had lower yields than the full NPK treatment. A significant effect of plant densities on on-farm productivity was also observed. We conclude that although nutrient management including use of micronutrients is important in specific cases, investments to optimize plant densities have a huge potential to increase food productivity.
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spelling CGSpace1181302025-11-11T18:53:11Z Understanding factors influencing wheat productivity in Ethiopian highlands Kihara, Job Maguta Gurmessa, Biyensa Dubiwak Tamene, Lulseged D. Amede, Tilahun Sommer, Rolf crop production soil management soil fertility yield factors producción vegetal manejo del suelo fertilidad del suelo Increasing yields in farmer fields is a priority to address increasing food demands. The study was conducted within four wheat-growing areas in Ethiopia: Debre Birhan, Hosaina, Sinana and Maychew. The objectives were to identify (1) best-bet soil fertility management options based on agronomic performance and economic evaluation and (2) key yield-reducing factors in farmer fields based on an agronomic survey among 55 participating farmers. Two types of on-farm experiments were conducted: researcher-managed trials that tested combinations of nutrients, including micronutrients, organic resources or both over two cropping seasons and farmer-managed trials comparing ‘improved practice’ against ‘farmer’s practice’. Fertilizer treatment affected wheat productivity in Debre Birhan (p < 0.01), a site limited in sulphur. Here, full NPK increased yields over the control (p < 0.05), whereas a combination of NPK and manure was better than the application of manure as the only source of added nutrients (p < 0.05). Applying half the recommended NPK with micronutrients and manure achieved similar yields as the full fertilizer treatment. In Hosaina, treatment had no significant effect on wheat productivity, although a combination of NPK and zinc resulted in an additional 26–57% yield relative to the other treatments. In Maychew, a significant treatment effect (p < 0.05) was observed. Here, the treatment with lower rates of nitrogen and phosphorous had lower yields than the full NPK treatment. A significant effect of plant densities on on-farm productivity was also observed. We conclude that although nutrient management including use of micronutrients is important in specific cases, investments to optimize plant densities have a huge potential to increase food productivity. 2022 2022-02-15T09:25:46Z 2022-02-15T09:25:46Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/118130 en Open Access application/pdf Cambridge University Press Kihara, J.; Gurmessa, B.; Tamene, Lulseged D.; Amede, T.; Sommer, R. (2022) Understanding factors influencing wheat productivity in Ethiopian highlands. Experimental Agriculture, Online first paper (07 February 2022) 18 p. ISSN: 0014-4797
spellingShingle crop production
soil management
soil fertility
yield factors
producción vegetal
manejo del suelo
fertilidad del suelo
Kihara, Job Maguta
Gurmessa, Biyensa Dubiwak
Tamene, Lulseged D.
Amede, Tilahun
Sommer, Rolf
Understanding factors influencing wheat productivity in Ethiopian highlands
title Understanding factors influencing wheat productivity in Ethiopian highlands
title_full Understanding factors influencing wheat productivity in Ethiopian highlands
title_fullStr Understanding factors influencing wheat productivity in Ethiopian highlands
title_full_unstemmed Understanding factors influencing wheat productivity in Ethiopian highlands
title_short Understanding factors influencing wheat productivity in Ethiopian highlands
title_sort understanding factors influencing wheat productivity in ethiopian highlands
topic crop production
soil management
soil fertility
yield factors
producción vegetal
manejo del suelo
fertilidad del suelo
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/118130
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