2025/07/18 by Biruk Masrie, Nigussie Dechassa, Tamado Tana +2
paper · doi:10.20372/nadre:9501
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a short season crop that thrives best under<br> sufficient nutrient supply. However, in Ethiopia the yield of potato is quite low<br> as it is produced with little or inappropriate rates of fertilizer application.<br> Therefore, a field experiment was conducted for two seasons (2012 and 2013) at<br> Kobo substation of Sirinka Agricultural Research Centre to elucidate the<br> combined effects of cattle manure (CM) and NP fertilizers on growth, yield<br> components, yield and nutrient uptake of the crop. The treatments consisted of<br> three rates each of CM (0, 15 and 30 t ha-1), nitrogen (0, 60 and 120 kg N ha-1) and<br> phosphorus (0, 46 and 92 kg P2O5 ha-1), combined factorially and laid out in<br> randomized complete block design with three replications. Growth parameters<br> (growth rate, and leaf area), average tuber weight and marketable and total tuber<br> yield of potato were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) influenced by the interaction effects<br> of chemical and organic fertilizers. Uptake of N and P were higher with<br> treatments in which 30 t ha-1 CM was applied combined with 120 kg N and 92 kg<br> P2O5 ha-1 as compared to the control treatment. Harvest index, total tuber yield,<br> N uptake and P uptake were significantly increased by 134%, 257%, 2446% and<br> 1186%, respectively, over the control treatment in response to the combined<br> application of 120 kg N, 92 kg P2O5 ha-1 and 30 t ha-1 CM. In conclusion, the<br> results revealed that integrated application of chemical and organic fertilizers<br> could be the best strategy to restore highly depleted soils and to enhance<br> economical production of potato in Kobo district and similar agroecologies.