Enhancing Productivity of Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Through Integrating Vermicompost and N fertilizer in Meskan, Central Ethiopia

Abstract

Soil fertility management is very crucial to optimize and sustain agricultural production to secure food for the current generation as well as the generation to come. Ethiopia is striving to secure food by optimizing and sustaining crop production. The purpose of the study was to examine the combined effect of organic (vermicompost) and inorganic (nitrogen) fertilizer rates on the growth and yield of bread wheat in Meskan district, Central Ethiopia. The experiment used four levels of vermicompost (0, 1, 1.5, and 2 t ha-1) and Nitrogen (0, 50, 75, and 100 kg ha-1) in a factorial combination in RCBD design with three replications using a wheat variety (Kekeba) as the test crop. The result of the study asserted that yield and yield-related traits were significantly different across the treatment combinations at P < 0.05. The treatment of 2 t ha-1 vermicompost + 75 kg ha-1 of N produced the highest grain yield (2.773 t ha-1); while the control treatment had the lowest grain yield (1.062 t ha-1). Hence, a combined application of vermicompost and N fertilizer optimize wheat production in the study area compared to the sole application of vermicompost or N fertilizers. Therefore, the combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizers could have a great contribution towards food security for countries like Ethiopia with low fertilizer input users and high food insecurity levels.