Response of Grain Sorghum to Split Application of Nitrogen at Tanqua Abergelle Wereda, North Ethiopia

The large need of plants for nitrogen and the limited ability of soils to supply available nitrogen cause nitrogen to be the most limiting nutrient for crop production on the globe. Worldwide interest associated with increasing cereal grain protein has added anattention on improving the utilization of nitrogen in cereals. Moreover, the concern of ground water contamination, cost of manufacturing and distribution has pressurized farmers to use nitrogen more efficiently.

Proper nitrogen application time and rates are critical to meet crop needs and indicate considerable opportunities for improving nitrogen use efficiency.The growth stage of crops at which fertilizer is applied determines the nitrogen use efficiency; however, the response can vary by genotype. Luxuriant application of nitrogen fertilizer at sowing increases the emergence of broad leaf weeds, thereby the labor requirements for hand weeding, hence, split application of nitrogen is considered as more economical both in terms of weed management and nitrogen use efficiency for optimizing grain yield.(Read more)