Abstract:
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) is an important food crop in Northwest Ethiopia mainly in West Gojam Zone. However, its productivity is very low which is attributed to poor agronomic practices like in-appropriate seeding rates and improper inter row spacing. Therefore, experiment was conducted at Abchiklie Kebele in South Achefer District, West Gojam Zone during 2016 main cropping season to evaluate the effect of different seeding rates and inter row spacings on yield and yield components of finger millet. Four levels of seeding rates (10, 15, 20 and 25 kg ha-1) and three inter row spacings (25, 30 and 35 cm) were tested in factorial arrangement in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Phenological vegetative growth, yield and yield related data were collected and analyzed using SAS. Mean separation for significant parameters was done by using least significant difference (LSD) method. The results showed that almost all the agronomic parameters including plant height, total number of tiller per plant, productive tiller per plant, number of panicle per plant, panicle length, total dry biomass yield, grain yield, thousand seed weight and harvest index were significantly (p<0.05) affected by the main effect of seeding rates and inter row spacing. The results also showed that like day to heading and days to maturity were significantly (p<0.05) affected by the main effect of seeding rates. Whereas, all yield and yield components of finger millet were not affected by the interaction effect of seeding rates and inter row spacing. The results of this study indicated the importance of using appropriate seeding rates and inter row spacing to increase yield of finger millet in the study area. In the present study, the seeding rates of 10 kg ha-1 had given higher grain yield (2936.58 kg ha-1) followed by 15 kg ha-1. Among different inter row spacings, 35cm performed better grain yield (2816.29 kg ha-1) than other inter row spacings. Based on agronomic performance and yield result of this study, 10 kg ha-1 seeding rate and 35 cm inter row spacing are preferable. However, further study has to be done under different seasons and locations to verify the recommendation of the present study
Key Words: Finger millet, Grain yield, Inter row spacing, Seeding rates