Effects of Organic Manure Application, Seeding Rate, and Planting Methods on Teff Grain Yields and Biomass Production in Marsabit, Kenya

Abstract

Teff (Eragrostis tef) is an annual cereal grass mainly found in warm climates. It is a staple food crop North Eastern Kenya as well as an important source of livestock feed and fodder. The objective of this study was to analyse the effect of organic manure application on teff kernel yields and biomass production in Marsabit Kenya. An experiment was set up to test the effects of manure application on grain yield and biomass production of teff in a randomized complete blocks (RCBD) a split plot arrangement. Three manure levels (0, 5 and 10 ton/ha), at seeding rate of 5, 10 ,15 and 20 kg/ha and 2 sowing methods (broadcasting and row planting 20 cm row spacing by drill) were tested. A popularly known landrace variety was used as the test crop. The results showed that the optimal panicle length (60 cm), grain yield (1180 kg/ ha) and biomass yield (2500 kg/ha) were achieved through the application of organic manure at the rate of 10 tons/ha and seeding rate of 10 kg/ ha. The lowest grain yield of 500 kg/ha and 750 kg/ha of grain yield and biomass yield respectively were recorded in plots without organic manure treatments. F values from split plot analysis indicated significant biomass differences due to manure, seeding rate as well as sowing method at P<0.0001. The differences between the blocks were not significant for both biomass and grain yield at P=0.2326 and 0.4750 respectively. The interaction between manure application and seeding rate was significant at p<0.001 for both biomass and grain yield. This indicates that the difference between manure treatments on biomass and grain yield depended on seeding rate. The high values of the sum of squares indicated high variability of data from the mean among the blocks. Interactions between manure and sowing method; seeding rate and sowing method did not statistically influence biomass and grain yield. This study concludes that manure application and the seeding rate are important consideration in teff farming for both biomass and grain yield.