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Research and Reviews : Journal of Crop science and Technology

Pre-extension Demonstration of Improved Taro with Newly Recommended Fertilizer Rate at Chaha District, Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia

  1. Lakamo Liben
  2. Tadele Hirgo

Abstract

InEthiopia,agriculturehasthepotentialtoaccountforarelativelylargeshareoftheGrossDomesticProduct,buttheproductivityofthissectorlagsbehindthecountry'spotential.One of the reasonsforthisisthelackofrecommendedfertilizerratesforcrops like taro.Therefore,this study aimedtodemonstrateimprovedtaroatthenewlyrecommendedfertilizerratesintheChahaDistrictoftheGuragezoneduringthemainharvestseasonof2021.The Districtwasdeliberatelyselectedbasedonthetechnicalgapsof farmers on the crop production.20farmersfrom2 kebeles,BoraandJato,wereselectedbasedontheirwillingnessandlandavailability.57farmersand11stakeholders with a total of 68 participantsweretrained.Itwasplantedin70cmb/nrowsand50cmb/nplantspacingataseedrateof30kg ha-1.ForthedemonstrationplotusingthenewrecommendedfertilizerrateNPS: 242 kg ha-1 and UREA: 180 kgha-1applied.Allrecommendedfarmingpracticeswereappliedequallytoallplotsandthefieldswerecarefullyandproperlymanaged.Datawerecollectedthroughmeasurements,interviewswithfarmers,andphotographs.Yieldand farmer’s preferencedatawerequalitativelyanalyzedusingmean,percentage, andfeedbackdata.Theaverageyieldsattonha-1fortarowiththenewrecommendedrateoffertilizerwere4.56and4.49,andwithoutfertilizerwere2.68and2.54forBora and Jato Kebeles respectively.Tuberyield,plantheightandearlymaturitywerecommonselectioncriteria,althoughtherewas a slightvariationinthecriteriaestablishedinthetwoKebelesbyfarmers.Inallkebeles,improvedtaro with newly recommended fertilizer rateoutperforms improved taro without fertilizer. The Benefit Cost Ratio result also showedthatusingimproved taro with a newly recommended fertilizer rate was moreprofitablethanusingwithoutfertilizer. So, using improved taro with newly recommended fertilizerwasrecommendedforfurtherprescalinginthestudyareaInEthiopia,agriculturehasthepotentialtoaccountforarelativelylargeshareoftheGrossDomesticProduct,buttheproductivityofthissectorlagsbehindthecountry'spotential.One of the reasonsforthisisthelackofrecommendedfertilizerratesforcrops like taro.Therefore,this study aimedtodemonstrateimprovedtaroatthenewlyrecommendedfertilizerratesintheChahaDistrictoftheGuragezoneduringthemainharvestseasonof2021.The Districtwasdeliberatelyselectedbasedonthetechnicalgapsof farmers on the crop production.20farmersfrom2 kebeles,BoraandJato,wereselectedbasedontheirwillingnessandlandavailability.57farmersand11stakeholders with a total of 68 participantsweretrained.Itwasplantedin70cmb/nrowsand50cmb/nplantspacingataseedrateof30kg ha-1.ForthedemonstrationplotusingthenewrecommendedfertilizerrateNPS: 242 kg ha-1 and UREA: 180 kgha-1applied.Allrecommendedfarmingpracticeswereappliedequallytoallplotsandthefieldswerecarefullyandproperlymanaged.Datawerecollectedthroughmeasurements,interviewswithfarmers,andphotographs.Yieldand farmer’s preferencedatawerequalitativelyanalyzedusingmean,percentage, andfeedbackdata.Theaverageyieldsattonha-1fortarowiththenewrecommendedrateoffertilizerwere4.56and4.49,andwithoutfertilizerwere2.68and2.54forBora and Jato Kebeles respectively.Tuberyield,plantheightandearlymaturitywerecommonselectioncriteria,althoughtherewas a slightvariationinthecriteriaestablishedinthetwoKebelesbyfarmers.Inallkebeles,improvedtaro with newly recommended fertilizer rateoutperforms improved taro without fertilizer. The Benefit Cost Ratio result also showedthatusingimproved taro with a newly recommended fertilizer rate was moreprofitablethanusingwithoutfertilizer. So, using improved taro with newly recommended fertilizerwasrecommendedforfurtherprescalinginthestudyarea

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