Effects of Striga Hermonthica(Del.) Benth on Early Growth Performances and Yield of Yellow Sorghum [Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench] in Potted Arenosols with or Without Compost at Mertulemariam Town
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Date
2019-08-08
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Sorghum bicolor (L.)Moench, commonly known as yellow sorghum, belongs to the grass family of East African origin, which has spread to other parts of the world due to its drought resistance and heat tolerance traits. It is the most common staple cereal crop for poor farmers, but is adversely affected by Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth weed that causes complete loss of most yellow sorghum land races. The weed causes considerable reduction of early growth and yield performances of yellow sorghum grown in semi-arid non- fertile areas of East Gojjam, Amhara Regional State. The present study was aimed at assessing the impact of Striga weed on growth development and yield of yellow sorghum grown in potted soils with or without compost. A total of 90 plastic bags (depth 28 cm, diameter 18 cm) were filled with 1 kg arenosols, of which 30 bags contained only Striga infected arenosols (SIS), 30 bags contained Striga infected arenosols mixed with comp (SIS+Comp) and the remaining 30 contained non-Striga infected arenosols mixed with comp(NSIS+ Comp).The present study found out that measurements on (NSIS+ Comp) treatment gave value of mean plant height (cm), internodal length (cm),leaf number, leaf area (mm2),and root collar diameter (cm) of 129.8, 19.5, 14, 354.6, and 3.5, respectively. Similarly, number of seeds per plant, seeds weight (g), thousand seeds weight (g) and total dry weight (g) were, 3,820,131.6, 43.2 and 57, respectively. The corresponding values for plants grown in SIS + Compost were 127, 18, 13,327.6, 3.3, 3,624, 129, 41.5, and 53.5, respectively. control plants grown in SIS only resulted in87.3, 13.5, 8, 262.9, 2.3, 1,950, 76.3, 25.8, and30.1, respectively. Based on the results obtained, it is concluded that application of compost significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved almost all the early growth performances and yield components of S.bicolor.
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Biomass, Biotic Constraints, Germination, Leaf Area, Root Collar Diameter