International Journal of Agricultural Science Research Vol. 4(5), pp. 098-108, May 2015 ISSN 2327-3321 ©2015 Academe Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Performance of in-situ rainwater conservation tillage techniques and inorganic fertilizer practices on sorghum production at Ethiopia Somali Region (Kurdha Metan district)

Aklilu Bajigo Madalcho¹* and Mekiso Yohannes Sido²

¹Department of Natural Resource Management, Jigjiga University, P.O. Box, 1020, Jigjiga, Ethiopia.

²Department of Dryland Crop Science, Jigjiga University, Ethiopia.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: bajigoaklilu05@gmail.com. Tel: +251913687159.

Accepted 30 April, 2015

Abstract

One of the major crop production constraints in semi-arid areas is short growing period, short term rainfall with high run-off and moisture deficit. In such area, in-situ rainwater harvesting techniques are very crucial. In Gursum wereda (Kudha Metan district) which is one of the moisture stressed areas in Ethiopia Somali Region, this study was carried out to determine the effect of different tillage practices as in-situ rainwater harvesting technique, and inorganic fertilizer application on sorghum production. The experiment was conducted in two successive growing seasons from 2013 to 2014 using spilt-plot design in a RCBD. The tillage treatments on the main-plot were: Shilshalo (Sh); tied-ridge during planting time (TRB); tied-ridge after a month of planting (TRA); and Control (C), and two levels of fertilizer application on the sub-plot. The sorghum seed variety called “Ase”, nationally recommended for semi-arid environment was used in the experiment. The yield and yield component data of sorghum was collected. At the end of crop harvest, soil samples were taken from the top 0-20 cm soil depth to analyze the effect of in-situ rainwater harvesting techniques on some soil chemical properties. The soil texture was also studied. Data were analyzed by using SAS software version 9.0. ANOVA at p<0.05. The results show that the highest value of available phosphorus (15.3 mgKg^-1) and the highest value of total nitrogen (1500 mgKg^-1) were conserved by tied-ridge during planting time with fertilizer compared to the control with fertilizer (12.6 mgKg^-1). However, tillage practices did not bring significant change on soil pH. Tied-ridge during planting time has brought statistically significant effect on the yield and yield components of sorghum. This treatment was also constrained by the fact that it was not much effective without fertilizer application at the study area. In general, tied-ridge with inorganic fertilizer application resulted in 210.64% more grain yield per hectare than the control treatment. Next to tied-ridge during planting time, tied-ridge after one month of planting time has also resulted relatively better performance compared to control treatment.

Key words: Fertilizer, rainwater harvesting, sorghum, tillage, yield component.