Determination of Row Spacing and Fertilizer Rate for Transplant Planting Methods on the Growth and Yield of Teff in Eastern Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

Teff row spacing by fertilizer rate for transplant planting methods experiment was conducted from the year 2012 to 2013 at Sirinka Agricultural Research Center station on red and black soil condition. The objective of the experiment was to assess the advantages of transplant planting methods over broadcast seeding system of teff for Eastern Amhara Region. The experiment was designed in factorial randomized complete block consisting of two fertilizer levels (F1-50/100 kg urea/DAP ha^-1 and F2-100/100 kg urea/DAP ha^-1) and four row spacing (15, 20, 25 and 30 cm) and broadcast planting with 25 kg ha^-1 seeding rate was included as a control. The result revealed that the highest grain yield (2858 and 3194 kg ha^-1) was obtained with the lowest row spacing (15 cm x 15 cm) on black soil for the years 2012 and 2013, respectively. Mean combined analysis of the two years data also showed these facts. Therefore,  application of 15cm row spacing by 15cm plant spacing and 15 to 30cm row spacing by 15cm plant spacing were recommended to teff transplanting method for both black and red soil conditions, respectively. Fertilizer rate of 50 kg urea ha^-1 and 100 kg DAP ha^-1 were recommended to black soil conditions while fertilizer rate for red soil condition needs further study at on-farm conditions since this experiment was conducted on-station.

Keywords: black soil, red soil, row spacing, teff, transplant planting