Integrated Effect of Vermicompost and Inorganic Fertilizer Rates on Yield and Yield Components of Finger Millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.] in Gobu-Sayo District

Abstract

Finger millet is an important food and beverage crop in the highlands and mid lands of Ethiopia, however marginal cultivation and suboptimal fertilizer application have caused soil nutrient depletion and yield decline of the crop. With this in view, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the integrated effect of vermicompost and inorganic fertilizer blended NPSB with urea on yield and yield components of finger millet. The treatments consisted of combination of four levels of vermicompost (25, 50, 75, and 100%) and three levels of recommended NPSB and urea (25, 50 and 75%) rates; control (non-treated), recommended vermicompost alone (4.64 t ha-1), and inorganic fertilizer alone (100kg NPSB ha-1 and 90kg urea ha-1). The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design in fifteen treatments with three replications. Significantly (P<0.05) higher value in number of days to 50% flowering (99.6 days) and days to 90%  to maturity (149.33 days) of finger millet were obtained with the application of 50:75% vermicompost and recommended NPSB with urea, the longest (70 cm) plant height was obtained with the application of inorganic fertilizer alone. Moreover, the highest number of tillers per plant (6.4) and productive tillers per head (3.96) was obtained with the application of 100:75% vermicompost and  recommended NPSB with urea, while the maximum (10730.4kg ha-1) dry biomass weight and straw yield (88235kg ha-1) was obtained with the application of 100 : 25% vermicompost and  recommended NPSB with urea. The highest net benefit ETB 56475.9 ha-1 with a marginal rate of return of 93.63% was recorded from application of 25:50% vermicompost (1.16 tons ha-1) and blended NPSB with urea, (50kg NPSB ha-1 and 45kg urea ha-1), fertilizer. Therefore, farmers in the study area are advised to use 25:50% vermicompost (1.16 tons ha-1), and blended NPSB with urea, (50kg NPSB ha-1 and 45kg urea ha-1), fertilizer to increase finger millet productivity. However, the experiment has to be repeated across locations and seasons to provide a reliable recommendation for sustainable finger millet production for similar agroecology.