Effect of Different Levels of Cattle Manure on Biomass, Seed Yield and Crude Protein Content opf Rhodes Grass

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at Adami Tulu Agricultural Research Center (ATARC) and Negele Arsi Farmers Training Center (FTC) with the objective of assessing the effect of different levels of cattle manure on biomass and seed yields and crude protein (CP) contents of Rhodes grass. The treatments were three levels of manure application (5, 10 and 15 t/ha) and a control (with no manure application). The result indicated the highest (p<0.05) biomass, seed yield and CP contents for the treatments with cattle manure as compared to the control, The values increased with the increment in the rate of the cattle manure. However, treatments with higher levels (10 t/ha and 15t/ha) of cattle manure application didn't produce significant differences in yields and CP contents as compared to the lower level (5t/ha) of manure application. The lower yields and CP contents of the control treatment indicates that the soil did not have enough nutrients to sustain optimal performance of the grass. Economic analysis also indicated that the benefits from Rhodes grass can be increased through application of cattle manure. The marginal rate of returns of 3.33 and 20.90 were produced for forage biomass and seed yields respectively at 5 t/ha of cattle manure application. This indicated that cattle manure application at the rate of 5 t/ha is the most economical when compared with the other rates. Further study is required to determine the seasons and manure application frequencies in the year for optimum yield, minimizing the risk of nutrient leaching, and environmental impact.

Keywords: Biomass yield, Cattle manure, Seed yield, Rhodes grass

DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/10-9-06

Publication date:May 31^st 2020