£)£>-© <£> Prx&edSngs of the if "'1 Gonfeirena® on: Challenges of Land Degradation to Agriculture in Ethiopia ° ■’ Feb 28 - Liar 1. 2002 Ethiopian Society of Soil Science Edited by: Tilahun Amede and Eylachew Zewdie Correct citation: ____________ Tilahun Amede and Eylaciiew Zewdie, 2003. Challenges of Land Degradation to Agriculture in Ethiopia. Proceedings of the 6 ESSS Conference, Feb. 28 - March 1, 2002. Ethiopian Society of Soil Science. ETHIOPIAN SOCIETY OF SOIL SCIENCE (ESSS) Challenges of Land Degradation to Agriculture in Ethiopia Proceedings of the Sixth Conference of the ESSS Fublished by: Ethiopian Society of Soil Science Editors Tilahun Amede and Eylachew Zewdie 'international Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) African Highlands Initiative, P.O. Box 1412 Code 1110, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 2National Soil Research Centre, P.O. Box 147, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia November 2003 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Ethiopian Society of Soil Science acknowledges the contributions of many individuals and institutions that have facilitated the sixth annual conference and the production of this proceeding. The society extends its appreciation mainly to Global 2000, the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization (EARO) and the Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission. The society also wishes to thank the earlier executive committee, scientists who contributed papers and shared experiences to make the conference successful. Thanks are also due to W/zt Genet Tadesse for her invaluable contribution in producing this proceeding. Honorary members Dr. Sahle Medhin Sertsu, 1993 Prof. Mesfin Abebe, 1996 Ato Berhanu Debele, 1998 Dr. Tekalign Mamo, 2000 Dr. Dawit Deguefu, 2002 Current ESSS Executive Committee Members: (2002-2004) Dr. Taye Bekele President Dr. Belay Demissie Vice President Ato Surafel Abay General Secretary W/zt Askal Alamirew Treasurer Dr. Tilahun Amedie Editor-in-Chief Dr. Eylachew Zewide Editor (Associate) Ato Yesuf Assen Auditor Ato Asefa Gizaw Public Relations Past ESSS Executive Committee Members: (2000-2002) Dr. Eylachew Zewdie President Ato Kelsa Kena Vice President Dr. Asfaw H/Mariam General Secretary Wzt. Sara Terefe Treasurer Dr. Wondimagen Chekol Editor-in-Chief Ato Engida Mersha Editor (Associate) Ato Tekalign Tadesse Auditor Ato Surafel Abay Public Relations Language Editor: Asrat Wendem-Agenehu Ethiopian Society of Soil Science Proceedings of the Sixth Conference Contents ESSS President’s R eport....................................................................................................... 1-3 Eylachew Zewdie Opening address...................................................................................................................... 5-6 A bera Debelo Keynote address...................................................................................................................... 7-11 Mesfm Abe be Session I. Soil Fertility / Microbiology Response of faba bean and field pea to phosphate fertilizer on farmers’ fields on Nitosols o f W olmera Woreda, West Shoa.....................................................13-24 Getachew Agegnehu, A mare Ghizaw and Chi lot Yirga Contribution of organic amendment to physico-chemical conditions o f coffee nursery m edia.......................................................................................................2 5 ^ 0 Taye Kufa. Mesfm A be be and Pan! os Dubai e Effect of biomass transfer of Ccijcinus cajon with or without inorganic fertilizer on BH-660 hybrid maize variety at Bako, western O rom ia....................................................................................................................................... 41-50 Abebe Yadessa and Diriba Bekere Bonemeal and rock-phosphate as alternative sources of P Fertilizer for maize p roduction....................................................................................................................51-58 Wakene Negassa. Kejyalew Negisho and Tadesse Yohannes Optimum nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer requirement for sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. Lam) production in humid environments of western Ethiopia......................................................................................................................59-68 Ginna A bera. Dagne Wegary and Bayissa Asefa Effect of nitrogen fertilization on grain protein content of durum wheat / v cultivars.................................................................................................................................69-77 , Bemnet Gashaw beza, Beke/e Mekuria, Amha Yaekob, Detnissie Mitiku, Tekalign Tadesse and Jemanesh Kifetew iii Comparison of carriers and alternate propagation material for rhizobial inocula production.................................................................................................79-88 Asfaw Hailmariam Investigation on phosphate solubilising ability of bacteria isolated from some Ethiopian soils............................................................................................. 89-96 / Wassie Haile, Asfaw Hailemariam and Fassil Assefa Session II. Soil Chemistry / Mineralogy / Classification Kiretics of phosphorus for some selected soils of the north-western highlands of Ethiopia............................................................................................ 97-108* Birru Yitaferu and Heluf Gebrekidan Bedrock mineralogy versus soil total arsenic, speciation and plant availability.................................................................................................. 109_ 115* Dejene Aye/e, Aberra Mogessie, Kebede Hailu and Walter Kosmus Session III. Land Management / Soil and Water Conservation Effects of straw management, tillage and cropping sequence on soil chemical properties in the south-eastern highlands of Ethiopia........................ 117-144 Asefa Taa. D. Tanner and A. T.P. Bennie Session IV. Challenges of Land Degradation to Agriculture in Ethiopia Drought in Ethiopia...........................................................................................145-161 * Engida Mersha Wetland soils, land use/land cover changes and management practices in Tulube catchment, Iillubabor highlands........................................163-177 Solomon Tekalign Closing address...................................................................................................179-181 Kidane Georgies Sixth Conference Proceedings. 2002. 1 © 2002, Ethiopian Society of Soil Science PRESIDENT’S REPORT EYLACHEW ZEWDIE National Soil Research Centre. P. O. Box 147. Addis Ababa. Ethiopia’ Dear Dr. Abera Debelo: A/DG of EARO Invited Guests ESSS members Ladies and Gentlemen On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Ethiopian Society of Soil Science and myself. I welcome you to our Sixth Conference. Today, at this conference we will try to discuss our research achievements and performance. We must also be able to examine our contribution to the national development in general and to the agricultural sector in particular. Related to our discipline, members are analysing the constraints of the national development in their day-to-day activities and tr\ to give possible solution. During the last two years, the Executive Committee has conducted several meetings and tried to see the achievements of the last Executive Committee. The Iasi Executive Committee has improved the capacity of ESSS in terms of office equipment and made contacts with several organisations, but due to various reasons we were not able to sustain most of them. The transfer of responsibility to the current EC has taken up a long time. Thus, our group was not able to plan and execute the activities outlined by the General Assembly and was not able to call this conference last year. Next \ear we will try to form ground so that the next EC can call the annual conference. At this point 1 w'ould like to thank my colleagues who have worked hard to accomplish some of the important assignments given to us. The details of our activities will be reported in the last section of this conference before the election of new EC members. The current EC would like to confirm that funding to organise this t\pe of conference is getting tighter and tighter and some of the organizations uo not even respond to requests. The contribution of members is too small and not paid on lime. Thus, it cannot be used to organise such type of conference even once in two years. Our team has decided to sell the conference proceedings to members. This year, members un­ expected to pay only 50% of the publication cost since Global 2000 has covered the remaining 50%. As decided in our last conference, the EC has prepared ID card for members. This ID card will be offered only to those who have settled their annual membership fee and will be renewed every year. I would like to confirm to you that the publication of the Ethiopian .Journal oj Natural Resources is encouraging and coming out as planned. Latter in our Conference, the chief editor will report the details. But what worries the current !„•'(' is ils circulation even among our members and national institutions. I luis. belore the end ol this Conference, members have to devise solution to this problem. A lot can be said about llie status of EJNR from different aspects. I will request members to raise these issues and ? President's report discuses them w ithout reservation after the chiel editor presents his report. I believ e that an open discussion on our important activities will assist the process of improvement and giv e a new v ision to the people inv olv