Nitrogen is the most important macronutrient for forage and food crop production. Currently, cultivable lands in Ethiopia undergo a deficiency of this element. Thus, this study was conducted to find an appropriate rate of nitrogen (N) fertilizer for the better agronomic performance of Chloris gayana Masaba. The experiment was carried out at Assosa Agricultural Research Center. The experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design with three replications, and the treatments were five levels of nitrogen fertilizer (0, 23, 46, 69, and 92 kg N/ha). The collected data were analyzed using the general linear model procedure of SAS, and the least significance difference was used for mean separation. Plant height at forage harvesting, dry matter yield, leaf to stem ratio, leaf height, number of leaves per plant, number of tillers, and seed yield were significantly ( p < 0.001 ) influenced by the year of planting while nonsignificantly ( p > 0.05 ) by nitrogen fertilizer rate and interaction of planting year and fertilizer rate. The mean leaf to stem ratio was significantly ( p < 0.001 ) higher in 2017 and 2018 than in the 2019 planting year. However, forage dry matter yield was significantly ( p < 0.001 ) higher in 2019, followed by 2018 and 2017 planting years. Mean seed yield was significantly ( p < 0.001 ) different among the establishment years and the peak seed yield productivity attained during the third year of harvesting (1st = 2nd < 3rd year of harvesting). Generally, all measured agronomic traits were not significantly responsive to the different fertilizer rates, and in the economic point of view, 0 kg of N/ha is recommended.
Cowpea is an important grain legume crop used as feed for livestock, and its dry beans provide protein. Consequently, the objective of this study was to evaluate selected cowpea genotypes for herbage dry matter yield and nutritional quality in two agro-ecologies of the Benishangul-Gumuz region. The study was conducted at Kamashi and Assosa forages research stations of Assosa Agricultural Research Center, and the sites were purposively selected to represent lowland and midland agro-ecologies, respectively. Four cowpeas’ accessions (V. Unguiculata ILRI-11114, ILRI-12688, ILRI-12713, and ILRI-9333) and one check (Melka (ILRI-9334) as a check) were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Herbage dry matter yield, plant height at forage harvesting, and days to maturity were significantly affected by location (L). Longer plant heights, shorter days to maturity, and higher dry matter yield ( P < 0.001 ) were recorded at Kamashi than at Assosa. Herbage dry matter yield was significantly P < 0.05 affected by year (Y), Y ∗ L (Y and L interaction), G ∗ L ∗ Y (genotype (G), L and Y interaction), and G ∗ L. Hebage dry matter yield was similar between years at Assosa, whereas at Kamashi significantly ( P < 0.001 ) different and more yields were obtained in 2015. The genotypes did not differ in nutritional quality parameters such as ash, acid detergent fibre, crude protein, and organic matter digestibility ( P > 0.05 ). However, neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre were significantly ( P < 0.05 ) influenced by genotype. Thus, from the present study, it can be recommended that cowpea genotypes ILRI-12688 are suitable for Assosa and ILRI-11114 to Kamashi areas in terms of biomass production.
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