Abegaz, Assefa (PhD)Melese, Yewubdar2018-07-042023-11-192018-07-042023-11-192017-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/6286Soil nutrient depletion is fitting one of the major challenges of agricultural production for the small holder farmers in Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to determine the nutrient; nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K)) flows at barley land in gadha ditta village, chencha district southern Ethiopia. Throughout stratified random sampling three farm wealth groups (rich, medium and poor) were distinguished based on farm size. From a total of 323 households 129 Households were surveyed using structured questionnaire. Soil organic fertilizer sources, crop yield and crop residue samples were collected and analyzed for their nutrient content. The inflow nutrients are chemical fertilizer and manure while the outflow resources were crop yields and crop residues. The result of this research was the nutrient balance for barley land was -4.3 kg N, 13.6 kg P and -12.39kg K/ha/yr. The study noticeably recognizes the must for the development of included nutrient management systems to reduce the high rates of nutrient depletion. The achievable actions can be recommended foremost reduce crop residues removal from barley land and the farmers receive knowledge about application of more chemical fertilizer to the field. Keywords: soil fertility, nutrient flow, nutrient balance, nutrient depletionenSoil FertilityNutrient FlowNutrient BalanceNutrient BalanceThesis