Evaluation of different blended fertilizer types and rate for better Production of barley at Gurage Zone, Gumer woreda
Abstract
E. Mohammed*, S. Lewut and J. Mohammed
Information of blended fertilizer (NPS and NPSB) rate and type for specific site and crop was not determined for barley production in the study area. The study was undertaken with the objective of evaluating the effects of different blended fertilizers rate and type on barley yield and yield components. The Experiment was conducted on four farmer’s field during the period of 2019 cropping season at Gummer Woreda, Southern Ethiopia. The experiment consists of seven treatments; (1) control, (2) NPS (142 kg NPS+159 kg urea ha-1), (3) NPSB (150 kg NPSB+41 kg urea ha-1), (4) NPSB (200 kg NPSB+72 kg urea ha-1), (5) NPSB (250 kg NPSB+102 kg urea ha-1), (6) NPSB (100 kg NPSB+161 kg urea ha-1) and (7) recommended NP (92 Kg N+69 P2O5). The treatments were arranged in randomized complete block design replicated three times in each farm. Agronomic parameters measured were analysed using Proc GLM procedures in the SAS 9.4 program. Economic analysis was also performed to investigate the economic feasibility of the fertilizers for barley production. The treatments applied revealed significant effect on growth parameters, yield and yield components of barley over Control. However, there was no significant difference obtained between fertilized plots. The highest grain yield (4786 Kg ha-1) was obtained from application of 92 Kg N+69 kg P2O5 which has no significant difference with treatment application of 142 kg NPS+159 kg urea ha-1. The economic analysis also revealed that application of 92 Kg/ha N, 69 kg P2O5 showed the highest net benefit and MRR compared to others. Therefore we recommended 92 Kg/ha N, 69 kg P2O5 since it produced high grain yield, high MRR, high net benefit and relatively small total cost of production, for Barley production at Gumer areas.