Jornal de Ciências Agrícolas e Pesquisa de Alimentos
Acesso livre

Abstrato

Effect of Cattle Manure and Crop Residue on Yield and Yield Components of Maize (Zea mays L.) under Supplementary Irrigation at Uke, Western Ethiopia

Temesgen Fesika*

Maize is one of Ethiopia’s major and strategic cereal crops, albeit the national average yield remains low. The contribution of inorganic fertilizer to enhance crop growth and yield cannot be ignored, but on the other hand their indiscriminate use is causing deterioration of the soil structure and soil acidity. A field experiment was conduct at 2020 under supplementary irrigation at Guto Gidda district, Western Ethiopia, to study the effect of variable rate of cattle manure and crop residue on the growth, and yield and yield components of maize (Zea mays L). Four rates of cattle manure: Control, 2, 4, and 6 t/ha^-1 and four rates of crop residue control, 2, 4, and 6 t/ha^-1 replicates three times laid out in a randomized complete block design and combined factorial. Data were collected on vegetative traits and yield component and statistically analyzed and the means differences were tested for their significance using least significance difference method. The growth and yield attributes increased significantly accordingly to the rates of cattle manure and crop residue due to continuous supply of nutrient. The results of analysis of variance indicated that the effects of cattle manure were significant (P<0.05) for all parameters except for days to 50% emergency. Similarly, the effects of crop residue rates were significant (P<0.05) for all parameters except for days to 50% emergency and harvest index. The interaction effect of cattle manure by crop residue rates were significant (P<0.05) for all parameters except for number of cobs per plant, and cob length. The correlation analysis showed that all growth and yield parameters showed the positive and significant association to the grain yield except days to 50% emergency, days to 50% flowering, and plant height. Among the different cattle manure and crop residue used the combination of 6 t/ha cattle manure and 6 t/ha crop residue gave the maximum grain yield (7603.07 kg/ha). Hence, it can be recommended for wider use at study area while the minimum grain yield value (6055.10 kg/ha) was obtained from control plot (0, 0 t/ha). Applications of 6 t ha^-1 cattle manure and 6 t ha^-1 crop residue significantly improve vegetative growth and yield attributes of maize plant and therefore recommended for adoption by resourcepoor farmer can adopt the use of 6 t ha^-1 cattle manure and 6 t ha^-1 crop residue as substitute for inorganic fertilizer, thus reduce environmental pollution posed by the disposal of the cattle waste and crop residue to ultimately improve yield and soil fertility in the study area.