Understanding factors influencing wheat productivity in Ethiopian highlands

Kihara, Job Maguta; Gurmessa, Biyensa Dubiwak; Tamene, Lulseged D.; Amede, Tilahun; Sommer, Rolf

Understanding factors influencing wheat productivity in Ethiopian highlands

Autores

Kihara, Job Maguta

Gurmessa, Biyensa Dubiwak

Tamene, Lulseged D.

Amede, Tilahun

Sommer, Rolf

Editor

Cambridge University Press

Descripción

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.