article · Agriculture & Food Security
Bread wheat yields among smallholder farmers in the central highlands of Ethiopia face limitations from poor soil fertility and improper nitrogen management. A two-year rain-fed field experiment evaluated the effects of different nitrogen application rates and timings on wheat yield and nitrogen use efficiency. The results demonstrate that applying 240 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare in three split doses, specifically one-quarter at sowing, one-half at tillering, and one-quarter at booting, achieved an optimum grain yield of 6060.04 kilograms per hectare. Applying nitrogen beyond this rate yielded no significant increase in grain production, although a higher rate of 360 kilograms per hectare elevated nitrogen uptake and grain nitrogen content. Nitrogen recovery reached its peak at 59.74 percent with 120 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare using the same split schedule, while overall nitrogen use efficiency decreased as application rates rose from 120 to 360 kilograms per hectare.
Bread wheat is an essential staple and cash crop, yet smallholders frequently struggle with sub-optimal fertiliser timing and dosage. Identifying precise nitrogen rates and split-application schedules helps growers maximise grain yields while avoiding wasted inputs. This improves crop productivity, ensures better nutrient utilisation, and protects smallholder investments in costly chemical fertilisers under rain-fed conditions.
The findings provide actionable agronomic guidance directly relevant to smallholder farmers, agricultural extension workers, and regional advisory services. Because the work is applied research tested across two consecutive field seasons under rain-fed conditions, the resulting three-stage split application guidelines are near-market and ready for immediate translation into farm management programmes and extension toolkits.
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Bread wheat is an important staple and cash crop grown by smallholder farmers in the central highlands of Ethiopia. However, the productivity of the crop is constrained by low soil fertility and poor nitrogen fertilizer management in the area. For example, there is limited information on optimum rates and timing of nitrogen fertilizer application in the area. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted for two consecutive years (2014 and 2015) under rain-fed condition to determine the effect of N fertilizer rate and timing of application on grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency of bread wheat. Factorial combinations of three N levels and five application times plus one control were laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The optimum grain yield (6060.04 kg ha−1) was recorded when 240 kg N ha−1 was applied ¼ at sowing, ½ at tillering and ¼ at booting, and it showed no significant additional response to N fertilizer above this rate. Higher N level (360 kg N ha−1) always increased N content in the grain and nitrogen uptake by wheat crop. The best recovery of nitrogen (59.74%) by wheat was found when 120 kg of nitrogen was applied (¼ at sowing, ½ at tillering and ¼ at booting). The nitrogen use efficiency traits decreased with increased N rate (120–360 kg N ha−1) indicating poor N utilization. The split application of nitrogen (¼ at sowing, ½ at tillering and ¼ at booting) produced the highest nitrogen use efficiency traits. The application of 240 kg N ha−1 in three split doses (T5) was required to obtain optimum wheat yield. In addition, increasing the rate of nitrogen beyond 120 kg N ha−1 decreased nitrogen use efficiency traits.
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DOI: 10.1186/s40066-018-0242-9
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