Effect of Nitrogen Level on Herbage and Seed Yield of Rhodes Grass (Chloris gayana)

Abstract

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.