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  DOI Prefix   10.20431


 

International Journal of Research Studies in Agricultural Sciences
Volume 5, Issue 5, 2019, Page No: 27-36

EFFECT of BLENDED Npsznb FERTILIZER and CATTLE Manure Rates on Growth, Yield and Quality of Potato (Solanum Tuberosum L.) at Banja District, Awi Zone, North Western Ethiopia

Bewket Getachew Bekele*

Pawe Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, P.O.Box-25 Pawe, Ethiopia.

Citation : Bewket Getachew Bekele, EFFECT of BLENDED Npsznb FERTILIZER and CATTLE Manure Rates on Growth, Yield and Quality of Potato (Solanum Tuberosum L.) at Banja District, Awi Zone, North Western Ethiopia International Journal of Research Studies in Agricultural Sciences 2019, 5(5) : 27-36.

Abstract

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a high potential food security crop in Ethiopia due to its high yield potential, nutritional quality, short growing period and wider adaptability. However its productivity is very low mainly due to low soil fertility. Based on the national soil database, most of North West Ethiopian soils are deficient in macronutrients (N, P and S) and micronutrients (Cu, B and Zn) affecting growth, yield and quality of vegetables in general and potato in particular. Thus far, emphasis has not been given on assessing influence of combined application of inorganic and organic fertilizer on the growth, yield and quality of potato. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted to determine the appropriate rate of blended NPSZnB fertilizer and cattle manure (CM) on nitisol of Awi zone in 2017 under rainfed condition. The treatments consisted of four blended NPSZnB fertilizer rates (0, 65.7,133 and 199 kg ha-1) and four CM rates (0, 10, 20 and 30 t ha-1). The experiment was laid out in 4x4 factorial arrangements in randomized complete block design with three replications. Data on growth, yield and quality variables were collected and analyzed using SAS version 9.3 software. Results revealed that combined application of blended NPSZnB fertilizer and CM significantly (P< 0.05) influenced days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height, leaf area index, marketable tuber yield, total tuber yield, tuber dry matter content and tuber starch content. However, main stem number and unmarketable yield were not affected by the combined application of NPSZnB blended fertilizer and CM. The highest marketable tuber yield (31.7 t ha-1) and total tuber yield (34.1 t ha-1) were recorded from combined application of 199 kg ha-1 of blended NPSZnB fertilizer and 30 t ha-1 of CM; while the lowest values (9.8 t ha-1 and 12.29 t ha-1 respectively) were recorded from the control. Tuber dry matter content and tuber starch content showed significant (p< 0.05) reduction with increased rate of combined application of blended NPSZnB fertilizer and CM. Correlation analysis showed that total tuber yield was highly significantly and positively correlated with plant height (r=0.903), leaf area index (r=0.899), marketable yield (r=0.950) and tuber starch content (r=0.485). The result of this study verified that growth, yield and quality of potato were influenced by different blended NPSZnB fertilizer and CM rates. In conclusion, the above findings indicated that the growth and productivity of potato (Dagim variety) at study area can be improved by the combined application of blended NPSZnB fertilizer and CM.


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