Ekubay Tesfay Gebreigziabher*, Solomon Shushay
A field experiment was conducted under natural rainfall conditions to investigate the effects of manure and compost on soil loss, run-off and yield of sorghum in the 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons. The experimental design used was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six treatments (control, compost, animal manure, compost+mulch, animal manure+mulch and recommended NP fertilizer) with three replications. Each plot had a dimension of 6 m × 4 m and laid in a land slope of 4%. The results revealed that there was significant difference (P<0.001) between the treatments regarding their effect on runoff volume, soil loss and sorghum yield. Application of compost, compost+mulch and animal manure+mulch was found significantly effective in reducing soil loss and run-off volume as compared to other treatments. Additionally, the soil loss and run-off volume measured for control, animal manure and inorganic fertilizer (NP-fertilizer) treatments were high, implying that the compost, compost+mulch and animal manure+mulch treatments can effectively check soil erosion and run off rate under the existing slope and rainfall conditions of the study area.
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