Potentials of legumes rotation on yield and nitrogen uptake of subsequent wheat crop in northern Ethiopia

Shimbahri Mesfin; Girmay Gebresamuel; Mitiku Haile; Amanuel Zenebe

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16126

Potentials of legumes rotation on yield and nitrogen uptake of subsequent wheat crop in northern Ethiopia

Heliyon. 2023 May 24;9(6):e16126. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16126. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Shimbahri Mesfin^{1

2}, Girmay Gebresamuel¹, Mitiku Haile¹, Amanuel Zenebe^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Land Resource Management and Environmental Protection, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
² Institute of Climate and Society, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Nitrogen has becoming the most limiting nutrient in the northern highlands of Ethiopia due to continuous cropping with application of limited external inputs. To improve soil nutrient availability, farmers have been using legumes in crop rotation. However, the roles of various legumes on subsequent wheat (Triticum aestivum) crop are unknown in northern Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to investigate impacts of legumes on yield and N uptake of subsequent wheat crop. Experiment was conducted at farmer's field with faba bean (Vicia faba L.), 'dekeko' field pea (Pisum sativum var. abyssinicum), field pea (Pisum sativum), lentil (Lens culinaris) and wheat (Triticum spp.) in the first season and all plots were rotated by wheat in the second season. Yield of subsequent wheat crop was recorded and N uptake was analyzed. The result revealed that grain yield and dry biomass yields of subsequent wheat crop were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the legume-wheat rotations than in the wheat-wheat rotation. The wheat yield is increased by 2196, 1616, 1254 and 1065 kg ha^-1 and the N uptake is increased by 71.4%, 51.0%, 49.2% and 29.8% in the faba bean-wheat, 'dekeko'-wheat, field pea-wheat and lentil-wheat rotation plots compared to the wheat continuous cropping, respectively. The findings indicated that legumes improved yield and N uptake of the subsequent wheat crop. Thus, soil fertility management policy need to consider legume crop rotations as nutrient management option to improve sustainable soil fertility and yield.

Keywords: Crop rotation; Grain yield; Legumes; Nutrient uptake; Subsequent wheat crop.