Abstract            Volume:10  Issue-1  Year-2022         Original Research Articles

Online ISSN : 2347 - 3215 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcret@gmail.com

Application of small amounts of lime significantly increased maize and soybean grain yield suggesting that micro-dosing has the potential to increase maize production on acid soil of Ethiopia. Liming of acidic soil on smallholder farms is one of the major challenges to enhance crop yields in south western Ethiopia. This may be attributed to the additional investment cost for liming. The study was carried out to investigate the effects of micro-dosing of CaO lime on selected soil chemical properties and yield and yield components of maize and soybean at Jimma and Mettu 2012-2013. A study was conducted during 2011/12-12/13 season at Jimma and Mettu to evaluate the response of reduced lime application rates of 0%, 6.25%, 25% and 33.3% ha^-1 applied as micro-dosing. A uniform fertilizer application was made on all plots. Partial budget analysis was undertaken. Results showed that the ‘no lime’ control (1269 and 3663.6 kg ha^-1) gave the lowest grain yield for soybean and maize respectively. The highest yields of 1913 and 6268.9 kg ha-1 were observed from the 33.3% ha^-1 application for soybean and maize respectively. The results consistently demonstrate that 6.25% ha^-1 of quick lime as micro dose resulted in better maize growth and yield compared to no lime and 12.5% ha^-1 treatment rate. The results suggest potential to reduce application rates and increase yield of maize through micro-dosing of agricultural lime and provide a solid basis for wider evaluation of the concepts for subsequent rolling out to famers and it is recommended that it should be evaluated along with other integrated soil management options that are proven to ameliorate soil acidity and improve yields.

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