Avanços na ciência e tecnologia agrícola

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Evaluation of In-situ Moisture Conservation Techniques for Maize Production in Moisture Stress Areas of Mirab Abaya Woreda, Southern, Ethiopia

Birhanu Wolde, Wudinesh Naba and Abiy Gebremichael

A field experiment was conducted farmers field of Mirab abaya district of Gamo Gofa zone at Fara gosa kebele, southern Ethiopia to determine the effects of different moisture conservation practices on growth, yield and yield components of maize (Zea mays) under rain fed condition for consecutive two years (2016 and 2017) cropping calendar. The experiment was undertaken with three different soil moisture conservation techniques and one farmers’ practice (Targa, Trus, Tied-ridge, and farmers’ practice). The experimental design was a randomized complete block design /RCBD/ with three replications having the plot size of 12 m × 12 m each. Yield and yield components of maize crop as well as soil properties were studied. The results of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed that, there is significant difference between treatments indicating that maize growth performance in the area is significantly affected by moisture conservation practices (p=0.05). According to the result, Targa, as in-situ moisture conservation structures has produced significantly higher results in terms of grain yield, plant height, cob length, and biomass than the others. For instance the combined analysis result of grain yield indicated that, maximum was observed by Targa (8843 kg/ha) and followed by Tie ridge (6250.9 kg/ha), Trus (5784 kg/ha) and control (4525.6 kg/ha). The national average yield of maize was 3675 kg/ha which is low by half the yield obtained by practicing in-situ moisture conservation structures specially Targa. Targa also overweighed producing high biomass as well as other plant growth parameters. The finding showed that Targa is the best solution to solve the soil moisture stress to enhance the maize productivity in dry land agriculture. Hence, use of Targa is advisable and could be appropriate for maize production in dry land areas though further fine-tuning work is required to come up with strong recommendation.