Evaluation of NPSZn Blended Fertilizer on Yield and Yield Traits of Bread Wheat (Tritcum aestivum L.) on Cambisols and Vertisols in Southern Tigray, Ethiopia

Abstract

አህፅሮት

 የግብርና ምርትና ምርታማነት ለማሳደግ የተለያዩ ዓይነት ምጥን ማዳበርያዎች፣ ዳፕ እና ዩርያን በመተካት ወደ ሃገራችን  ለሙከራ የገቡት በቅርቡ ነው፤ NPSZn ምጥን ማዳበርያም አንዱ ነው፡፡ የተለያየ መጠን NPSZn (0፣ 50፣ 100፣ 150፣ 200፣ 250፣ 300 ኪ.ግ በሄክታር) እና የተለመደው ዩርያና ዳፕ ማዳበርያ እንደ መወዳደርያነት በማካታት በራንደማይዝድ ኮምፕሊት ብሎክ ዲዛይን (RCBD) በሶስት ድግግሞሽ በ2009ዓ.ም እና 2010ዓ.ም በትግራይ በኦፍላ እና እምባ አላጀ ወረዳዎች ተሞክሯል፡፡ የቅድመ ተከላ የአፈር ናሙና እንደሚያመለክተው የናይትሮጅን መጠን በአብዛኛው የምርምር ሳይቶች ዝቅተኛ ሲሆን የፎስፎረስ መጠን ደግሞ መካከለኛ ነበር፡፡ በተለያየ የምርት መለኪያ መንገዶች እና በኢኮኖሚያዊ አዋጭነት መሰረት 200ኪ.ግ NPSZn ምጥን ማዳበርያ ከ62 ኪ.ግ ዩርያ በኦፍላ እንዲሁም 100ኪ.ግ NPSZn ምጥን ማዳበርያ ከ100ኪ.ግ ዩርያ በእምባ አላጀ ከሌሎች የማዳበርያ መጠኖች በተሻለ በስንዴ ምርት ላይ የተሻሉ እንደሆኑ ተረጋግጧል፡፡

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out in 2017 and 2018 main cropping seasons in Ofla and Emba Alaje Woredas in Tigray Regional State, Ethiopia. The experiment has seven levels of NPSZn (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, kg ha^-1) adjusted for N from urea to the recommended N level (64 kg N ha^-1) and the recommended P fertilizers (46 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1). The treatments were also arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications and executed on two farmers' fields. Soil samples were collected before planting and analyzed for selected physicochemical properties. As a result, the application of different rates of NPSZn blended fertilizer significantly influenced the yield and yield components of wheat at both sites. At Ofla, the highest grain and straw yields were obtained from plots that received 200 kg NPSZn ha^-1 . At Emba Alaje, the highest grain and straw yields were harvested from the application of 200 kg NPSZn ha^-1 and 100 kg NPSZn ha^-1, respectively. Application of Zn in the blended fertilizer had no significant effect on grain Zn concentration of bread wheat at both sites. Partial budget analysis revealed that the optimum marginal rate of return was 22.25ETB and 16.06ETB at Emba Alaje and Ofla, respectively. Both biological and economic analysis showed that applications of 200kg NPSZn with 28.6 kg N (62 kg urea) at Ofla and 100 kg NPSZn with 46 kg N (100 kg urea) at Emba Alaje were optimum for wheat production and these rates could be recommended for areas where the rainfall distribution and soil types are similar with the study locations. Further study should be done on the effects of NPSZn on grain quality and a single nutrient-based experiment should be carried out to evaluate the effect of each nutrient in the blended fertilizer for crop production.