Effect of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers on Growth, Yield and Yield Components of Chick Pea (Cicerarietinum) and Enhancing Soil Chemical Properties on Vertisols at Ginchi, Central Highlands of Ethiopia

Soil fertility depletion and soil quality decline have been threatening the ecological and economic sustainability of crop production.In order to improve soil fertility and nutrient management approaches, on-farm integrated soil fertility management trials were conducted to evaluate the effect of organic and inorganic fertilizers on growth and yield of chick pea and enhancing soil chemical properties on vertisols at Ginchi, central high lands of Ethiopia.The soil treatments were eleven selected combinations of organic and inorganic nutrient sources (Farm yard manure, Compost, Vermicompost and TSP).The experiment was laid out as a randomized complete block design in a factorial arrangement and replicated three times.The study revealed that chick pea yield, some of the yield components and soil chemical properties significantly responded to the application of different soil fertility treatments.The highest chick pea grain yield (2712.2kg/ha) and biomass yield (10030 kg/ha) were obtained from the applications of 1.75t/ha of vermicompost (based on Phosphorus equivalent of recommended) and 50kg/ha of the recommended Phosphorus fertilizers followed by 2454.5and9152kg/ha for grain yield and biomass yield, respectively.Chick pea grain yield showed significant and positive correlations with the biomass yield (r 2 = 0.928).The application of 1.75t/ha of vermicompost (based on Phosphorus equivalent of recommended) with 50kg/ha of the recommended Phosphorus fertilizer rate resulted a superior yield compared with the yield of 100kg/ha Phosphorus fertilizers, which could be considered as an alternative use of integrated organic and inorganic nutrient source for sustainable soil health and crop productivity.The economic analysis result showed that the highest marginal rate of return was obtained from application of 1.75t/ha of vermicompost (based on Phosphorus equivalent of recommended) with 50kg/ha of the recommended Phosphorus fertilizer rate, which is economically the most feasible alternative on vertisols of central highlands of Ethiopian.