Effect of sowing time and moisture conservation methods on maize at Goffa, south region of Ethiopia

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1 Sky Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 4(1), pp. 14-2, February, 215 Available online ISSN Sky Journals Full Length Research Paper Effect of sowing time and moisture conservation methods on maize at Goffa, south region of Ethiopia Fisseha Negash 1 * and Tewodros Mulualem 2 1 Areka Agricultural Research Center, P. O. Box 79, Areka, Ethiopia. 2 Jimma Agricultural Research Center, P. O. Box 192, Jimma, Ethiopia. Accepted 26 December, 214 A field experiment was conducted at Goffa district of southern Ethiopia for two consecutive years (24 and 26). The objective of the study was to determine the favorable sowing time and to assess the effect of different moisture conservation methods on the performance of different varieties of maize. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with split plot arrangement using moisture conservation methods as a main plot and sowing time and varieties as a sub plot. The results reveal that, the interaction of sowing time and variety was significantly affected yield and yield components of maize. Significantly the highest grain yield of maize was obtained by sowing BH-14 maize variety on 2 nd week of March. The moisture conservation methods and its interaction with sowing time or verities has not caused significant deference on the grain yield and all yield components of maize recorded in the experiment. From this experiment it was safely concluded that maize planting on 2 nd week of March is beneficial and advisable in order to utilize moisture during germination and flowering before the onset of dry period for Goffa and similar areas of the region. Key words: Maize, moisture conservation, tied ridges, untied ridges. INTRODUCTION Maize (Zea Mays L.) is one of the most important food crops grown worldwide. It is the world s most widely grown cereal (Ayisi and Poswell, 1997). Based on the total area and production, maize is the 3 rd most important cereal crop after wheat and rice in the world (Ayisi and Poswell, 1997; Tollenaar and Dwyer, 1999). Maize is also an adaptable crop, allowing it to grow across a range of agro-ecological zones. It is cultivated in a wider range of environments than wheat and rice because of its greater adaptability (Koutsika-Sotiriou, 1999). It is known that appropriate sowing time is not only important for proper germination and emergence but also to have the crop in the field when environmental conditions are conducive for vigorous growth and development. Sowing time is one of the most important factors influencing crop growth, development and yield of maize. It was for this reason that sowing date was studied, in order to determine the best sowing time. In Ethiopia, maize sowing dates varied among different *Corresponding author. fisseha.negash@yahoo.com. location. The variation in sowing dates plays an important role in the variation of maize yield per unit area. Goffa is one of the highest maize producing areas of maize in the south region of Ethiopia. The area receives a bimodal rainfall type. Late beginning or early cessation of rain is a common phenomenon in the area. Adoption of in situ moisture conservation practices, namely compartmental bunding ridges and furrows reduces the runoff, causing the water to infiltrate and be stored in the profile, so that it is made available to the crop during various stages of crop growth and especially in the moisture stress situations resulting in better crop growth with higher crop yields (Mahale et al., 1998). Seed bed preparation and planting, which are not only high risk operations as regards establishing the crop but also carry of risk of adverse effects on later stage of growth and development (Stroud, 1985). Growing crops in tied furrows to conserve and concentrate rain-water into the root zone of crops gave significant yield increases over the traditional farmers' practice of planting on flat land (Nyamudeza et al., 1991). Therefore, the present study was undertaken with the

2 Negash and Mulualem 15 objective of assessing the effect of sowing time and moisture conservation method on different varieties of maize under rain fed production system of south region of Ethiopia MATERIALS AND METHODS Description of the study area The experiment was conducted at Goffa district of southern Ethiopia. It is located 52 km southeast of Addis Ababa at 6 19 N latitude, E longitude. The site is located at an altitude of 14 m above sea level. The area receives 1339 mm average rainfall annually, usually in bi-modal rainfall pattern, lasting from February to November, and with average daily maximum and minimum temperatures of 29 and 17.63ºC. The soil of the study site is predominantly Acrisole. Experimental design The experiment was conducted for two years (24 and 26); it included three moisture conservation methods namely flat bed, untied ridges and tied ridges; four sowing dates (3 rd week of February, 2 nd week of march, 1 st week of April,3 rd week of April) and four maize varieties (two early maturing varieties, melkasa-1, one hybrid variety, BH-14 ; and a local verity). The plots were replicated three times in randomized complete block design with a split-plot arrangement, moisture conservation method being the main plot and the interaction of sowing date and verities as sub plot. The plot size for the main plot was m and that of sub plot was m. Maize was sown using the spacing of 8 and 2 cm inter and intra row, respectively. Experimental procedures For each variety, two seeds were planted per stand and three weeks after planting it was thinned to one seedling per stand, giving a population of 62,5 plants per ha. Urea (46% N) and DAP (46% P 2 O 5 and 18% N) fertilizers were used as a source of N and P. Both fertilizers were applied at the rate of 1 kg/ha near the maize rows. All DAP and 5% urea was applied at planting and 5% urea was applied after 35 days after planting. Three hand weeding was done equally and at the same time for the entire experimental unit. Neither insecticides, nor fungicides were applied since there were no pests and diseases incidences. Data collection and analysis At physiological maturity, all maize plants within the plot were counted to get plant population. All cobs from each plot were picked and counted to calculate the number of cobs per m 2, average cob weight, average kernels weight/cob. Five individual plants were randomly chosen from the middle rows in each plot on which the observations of yield and yield components of corn were recorded to calculate the average number of kernels/cob and average cob length. Air dried cobs in each plot were weighted to estimate average cob weight and shelling percentage. The cobs were shelled and weighted to determine the grain yield. 25 kernels were counted from the shelled kernels and weighted to calculate 1 kernels weight. All measured variables were subjected to analysis of variance using the generallineal model (GLM) procedure of the SAS statistical package (SAS Institute Inc., 199). And significantly different means of main and interaction effects were separated by the least significant difference (LSD) method (P.5). Microsoft office Excel 27 program was used for drawing graphs. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Grain yield Statistical analysis results of the main effects and their interaction on maize grain yield and yield components of the two years are presented in Tables 1 to 3 and in Fingers 1 to 7. The combined analysis of variance of the two years result indicated that sowing date and variety and their interaction significantly (p 1%) affected the grain yield, and all yield components of maize. This is in line with the findings by Sankaran and Subbiah (1997), which states that in dry land area there is a potential to increase existing productivity by 5%, using different improved technologies, in that share of sowing time is 4%, use of improved varieties 4%. Significantly the highest grain yield of maize (5,567 kg /ha) was obtained by sowing BH-14 maize verity on 2nd week of March. On 2 nd week of March the yield of all varieties was the highest than other sowing times (Figure 1). Early maturing maize varieties gave better yield in early planting than later plantings. Yield reduction of 69%, 6% and 65 % by BH-14, and varieties were observed by planting late. BH1-4 had deceasing trend with delay in planting. Early maturing verities gave significantly the highest yield of maize on early planting. On the other hand, moisture conservation method and its interaction with the other factors had not affected significantly the grain yield and all yield components of maize (Table 1). This may be due to adequate amount and well distributed rainfall in the district during the growing seasons of the crop (Figure 8). This result contrary to the result of the study by Michaela et al. (1993) which indicated that tie-ridge systems caused significant bean and maize seed yields difference than the control, and to the findings by Patil and Sheelavanlar (24), in which ridges increased the grain yield of winter sorghum by 25.6%. In this experiment though the

3 16 Sky. J. Agric. Res. Table 1. Analysis of variance of maize grain yield and yield components as affected by moisture conservation method, sowing date, and maize Variety (combination of 24 and 26). Treatment Grain Yield 1 kernel weight cobs/ m 2 kernels/cob kernels weight/cob Cob weight cob Length M NS NS NS Ns NS NS NS ** * *** *** *** *** *** Variety * *** *** *** *** *** * M X SD NS NS NS NS NS Ns NS M X V NS Ns NS NS NS NS NS SD X V *** *** ** *** *** *** *** M X SD X V NS NS NS NS NS NS NS Year *** *** *** *** *** *** *** CV (%) *Significant at P.5; **Significant at P_.1; ***Significant at P_.1; M= moisture conservation methodsd= sowing date, V= variety, CV (%)=coefficient of variation in percentages. Table 2. Main effect of sowing date and moisture conservation method, on grain yield of maize varieties and yield components (combination of 24 and 26) Treatments Grain Yield (kg/ha) 1 kernel weight (g) kernels/cob kernels weight/cob(g) cobs/m 2 Cob weight (g) cob Length (cm) Moisture C. M. flat bed tied ridges untied ridges LSD (5%) NS NS NS NS NS NS NS Sowing Date 3 rd WF 4158 a 266. a a 95. a 4.6 b a 16.1 ab 2 nd WM 4528 a a 434. a 92.2 a 5. a ab 16.2 a 1 st WA 3667 b ab 42.9 a 84.1 b 4.7 ab 14. b 15.2 b 3 rd WA 2235 c b b 64.1 c 3. c 8.9 c 12.7 c LSD (5%) Variety Melkasa a b b 66.4 b 5.6 a 81.7 c 14.6 ab ACV a a 43.1 a 84.1 c 4.4 b 14. b 15.6 a BH a a 416. a 99.6 a 3.4 c a 15.5 a Local variety 3296b a 41.4 a 85.2 b 3.8 c 17.1 b 14.5 b LSD (5%) C. M. = conservation method NS= non-significant, 3 rd WF= 3 rd week of February,2 nd WM= 2 nd week of March, 1 st. WA= 1 st week of April, 3 rd WA= 3 rd week of April, LSD (5%) = List significant difference at 5% level of probability. difference was not significant, maize grain yield and yield components were relatively higher in moisture conservation method treatments than on flat fields (Table 2). The main effect of the three factors caused significantly higher grain yield in 26 than 24 (Table 3). 1 Kernel weight BH1-4 had higher kernel weight in the first sowing dates. In late sowing dates, local variety gave the highest 1 kernel weight. Melkasa 1 gave the lowest 1 kernel weight in all sowing dates except in the latest sowing dates (Figure 2). kernels/cob BH1-4 gave the highest number of kernels/cob in all sowing dates except in the latest sowing dates (Figure 3). All varieties respond similarly for the first two sowing

4 Grain yield (kg/ha) Negash and Mulualem 17 Table 3. Main effect of sowing date and moisture conservation method on grain yield of maize varieties in 24 and 26. Treatment Grain Yield (kg/ha) Mean Moisture C. M. Flat bed Untied ridges Tied ridges LSD (5%) NS NS NS Sowing Date 3 rd WF 2831 b 5483 a 4158 a 2 nd WM 3322 a 5734 a 4528 a 1 st WA 313 ab 423 b 3667 b 3 rd WA 94 c 3526 c 2235 c LSD (5%) Variety Melkasa I 2533 ab a ACV a a BH a a Local 2269 b b LSD (5%) 298 NS 373 CV (%) C. M. = conservation method, 3 rd WF= 3 rd week of February,2 nd WM= 2 nd week of March, 1stWA= 1 st week of April, 3 rd WA= 3 rd week of April. NS= non-significant, CV (%) = coefficient of variation in percentages BH-14 Figure 1. Interaction effects of sowing date and variety on grain yield of maize. dates.local variety gave the lowest number of kernels/cob in all sowing dates. Kernel weight/cob Kernel weight/cob decreased in all varieties with sowing dates. Especially in local and BH1-4 sharply decreased. In all sowing dates BH1-4 gave the highest Kernel weight/cob except the last sowing dates (Figure 4). cobs/m 2 Melkasa 1 followed by gave the highest number of cobs/m 2 in all sowing dates except in the latest sowing dates (Figure 5). The highest number of cobs/m 2 (6.4) was obtained when Melkasa 1 was sown 1 st week of April.

5 kernels/cob 1 Kernel weight(g) 18 Sky. J. Agric. Res BH-14 Figure 2. Interaction effects of sowing date and variety on 1 kernels of maize Sowing time BH-14 Figure 3. Interaction effects of sowing date and variety on number of kernels/cob of maize. Kernel weight/cob(g) BH-14 Figure 4. Interaction effects of sowing date and variety on kernels weight/cob of maize.

6 Cob length (cm) Cob weight(g) Negash and Mulualem 19 cobs/m BH-14 Figure 5. Interaction effects of sowing date and variety on number of cobs of maize BH-14 Figure 6. Interaction effects of sowing date and variety on cob yield of maize BH-14 Figure 7. Interaction effects of sowing date and variety on length of cobs of maize. Cob weight BH1-4 gave the highest cob weight in all sowing dates except in the latest sowing dates. Local varity gave the lowest cob weight in all sowing dates except in the latest sowing dates (Figure 6). Cob length BH1-4 gave the highest cob length in all sowing dates except in the latest sowing dates. The highest number of cobs/m 2 (18.67 cm) was obtained when Melkasa 1 was sown 2 nd week of March (Figure 7).

7 Rainfall (mm) 2 Sky. J. Agric. Res Months Figure 8. Meanmonthly rainfall pattern of the experimental site in 24 and 26. Conclusion This experiment indicates that planting maize at 2 nd week of March increased the grain yield and all yield components of maize significantly. Bh-14 had shown the highest value in the grain yield and in most yield components. Growing maize using tied ridging and early maturing varieties could not caused significantly higher grain yield difference in Goffa area. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors are grateful to Southern Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) and Areka Agricultural Research Center for financial and all other logistic support on this study. The authors also wish to thank all research assistances of crop science case team and administrative staff of Areka Agricultural Research Center for their participation in different activities accomplished in this experiment. REFERENCES Mahale DM, Patil PP, Pokharkar SM (1998). Effect of tied ridging on soil moisture and yield of pearl millet. In: Walton PO (1962). Indian J. Dryland Agric. Res. Dev. 13 (1): Michaela DO, Ndegwa AM, Mbugua GW (1993). Effect of Water Harvesting Systems on Bean: Maize Intercropping in Arid and Semi- Arid Lands of Kenya. In: Smithson JB (Ed.). Proceedings of Third Multidisciplinary Workshop on Bean Research in Eastern Africa, Thika, Kenya, April Network on bean research in Africa, Workshop series No. 28 CIAT, Kampala, Uganda. Nyamudeza P, Nyakatawa EZ, Jones E, Maringa D (1991). Water and soil fertility management for increased crop production on the light soils of the south-eastern lowveld of Zimbabwe. In: Proceedings of the Second Scientific Conference, SADCC-L&WMRP. Mbabane, Swaziland. October 7-9. pp Patil SL, Sheelavanlar MN (24). Effect of cultural practices on soil properties, moisture conservation and grain yield of winter sorghum (sorghum bicolar L. Moench) in semi- arid tropics of india. Agricultural water management. 64:49-67 Sankaran S, Subbiah M (1997). Principles of Agronomy. Tamil Nadu Agricultural university coimbatore, India. SAS Institute Inc., (199). SAS/STAT User s Guide, Version 6, 4th ed., Vols. 1 and 2. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC. Stroud A (1985). Finding solution to tillage problems: a case study from the semi arid areas of eastern province, Kenya. In proceedings of the 1th east Africa weed science society conference, may 1985.University of Nairobi. Tollenaar M, Dwyer LM (1999). Physiology of maize. In Smith DL, Hamel C (eds). Crop Physiology and Processes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, pp Ayisi KK, Poswell MAT (1997). Grain yield potential of maize and dry bean in a strip interropping system. J. Appl. Plant Sci., 11: Koutsika-Sotiriou M (1999). Hybrid seed production in maize. In Basra, A. S. (Ed.), Heterosis and Hybrid Seed Production in Agronomic Crops. Food Products Press, New York, pp