Progrès dans la science et la technologie des cultures

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Effect of Population Density and Row Spacing on Yield and Yield Components of Finger Millet (Eleusine Coracana L.) in Northwestern Ethiopia

Tafere Mulualem, Netsanet Abera, Yaregal Damtie and Desta Abebe

Finger millet is one of the main grain crops grown in Northwestern Ethiopia and broadcasting is the dominant
planting method of finger millet production in the country. The objective of the present study was to assess the effect
of inter and intra row spacing and determine the appropriate spacing and population density in finger millet
production. The experiment was conducted at Pawe agricultural research center in 2012 and 2013 cropping season.
Five inter (20 cm, 30 cm, 40 cm, 50 cm and 60 cm) and three intra (10 cm, 15 cm and 20 cm) row spacing with one
finger millet variety i.e. Baruda were used. The trial was laid down in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD)
and replicated three times. Analysis of variance revealed a significant variation (P<0.05 and P<0.01) among
treatments for all studied traits except finger length and lodging. The highest yield performance for two consecutive
years i.e. 2012 and 2013 was recorded by treatment 20 cm × 10 cm with a yield of 6.67 ton/ha and 7.47 ton/ha
respectively. Hence, the experiment was done in one location using one finger millet variety, so that further
experiment using more than one location and finger millet variety is recommended to approve the result and used for
future finger millet production.