Row Spacing and Fertilizer Rate on Yield and Yield Components of Tef Eragrostis Teff (Zucc.) Trotter) under Transplanting Planting Method

Abstract

Low productivity of tef in Amahara region is mainly attributed to lack of improved agronomic practices. Broadcast method of sowing has been predominantly used in the past years and new agronomic practices should be in place to increase the productivity of the crop. Transplanting young tef seedlings is one of the promising planting techniques proved to boost the yield of tef.  An experiment was done at Adet agricultural research center experimental site to determine appropriate row spacing for tef transplanting and to simultaneously see the effect of N and P doses on growth and yield of tef. Four row spacings ( 15cm,20cm,25cm and 30cm) and two fertilizer rates (100/100 and 50/100 UREA/DAP kg/ha) were tested in factorial RCBD with three replications. Broadcast planting with 25 kg/ha seeding rate was included as a control. In all growth and yield parameters except biomass yield, the broadcasting control had an inferior performance over the transplanting treatments. The widest row spacing (30cm) gave the highest tillers per hill (14) while the lowest tillers per hill (11) was counted at 20 cm row spacing. Transplanting tef gave a yield advantage ranged from 29.2-39.3 % over broadcasting method. Application of 100 kg/ha UREA gave better yielding and growth performance than application of 50 kg/ha UREA. The highest grain yield of 24.4 Q/ha was obtained when 15 cm distance between rows was used. This study revealed that the optimum row spacing for tef transplanting was found to be 15 cm at Adet.

Keywords:  seedlings, broadcast, tiller