Investigating the effects of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilizer Application on Yield Attributes, Grain Yield and Quality of Rain Fed Rice (NERICA-3) in Gambella, Southwestern Ethiopia
During the 2008 and 2009 crop seasons, a field experiment was conducted in Imla, Gambella Zuria District, Gambella, southwestern Ethiopia, to determine the application rates of N and P fertilisers for rice variety NERICA-3 (Oryza sativa x Oryza glaberrima). Rice may provide grain yields of up to 10-18 t ha-1 in advanced rice-growing areas. However, due to poor crop management methods, its productivity in Ethiopia (2.31 t ha-1 of paddy rice) and Africa as a whole (2.31 t ha-1 of paddy rice) is well below the world average (4.35 t ha-1 of paddy rice). The treatments were factorial combinations of four rates of N (0, 46, 92, and 138 kg N ha-1) and P (0, 46, 92, and 138 kg P ha-1) (0, 23, 46 and 69 kg P ha-1) Plant height, panicle length, and grain quality are all measured in 1000 grains. Similarly, the effects of N on productive tillers plant-1, grains panicle-1, LAI, plant height, panicle length, grain yield, crude protein, ether extract, and crude fibre were significant (P (le) 0.01). With the exception of crude fibre, there were no significant differences in growth, yield, or quality related to the administration of P (P > 0.05). For LAI, panicle length, grains panicle-1, crude fibre, plant height, and ether extract, however, the effects of year by N interaction were significant (P (le) 0.05 and/or P (le) 0.01). Only the crude fibre effects of the year by P interaction were significant, whereas the N by P interaction effects were not. N levels increased from the control to 92 kg N ha-1, but declined when N levels increased further. Finally, sensitivity analysis on simultaneous changes in field prices of inputs and rice grain (15%) revealed that 92 kg N provided the best marginal rate of return (MRR) (681.53 percent), followed by 23 kg P ha-1 (117.44 percent ). As a result, using 92 kg N ha-1 to boost grain yield in rain-fed NERICA-3 rice should be more lucrative, even in uncertain market conditions in and surrounding the study area.
Author (S) Details
Shiferaw Nesgea
Gambella Regional Agricultural Research Institute, P.O.Box 62, Gambella, Ethiopia.
Heluf Gebrekidan
Colleges of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Haramaya University, P.O.Box 138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
J. Sharma
Colleges of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Haramaya University, P.O.Box 138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
Tareke Berhe
SASAKAWA Africa Association`s, Regional Rice Program, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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