Onion is an important cash crop for smallholder farmers in the Central Rift Valley Region of Ethiopia. A survey was conducted during the off-season of 2011 to document nutrient management and post-harvest handling practices in onion production in four districts (Adama, Merti, Dugda Bora and Adamitulu-Jiddokombolcha) in the region. Data were collected from 128 farmers using a standard questionnaire and focus group discussions. The results revealed that all of the sampled smallholder onion growing farmers used Diammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea whilst only 10.9% and 5.5% used farmyard manure (FYM) and compost, respectively. The growers on average used 298.8 kg ha-1 Urea and 299.21 kg DAP ha-1. Only small amounts of farmyard manure (1.71 t ha-1) and compost (1.56 t ha-1) were applied by the onion growers. The data also showed that farmers did not practise curing and storing of onion bulbs, and sold the produce on the field during harvest at farm-gate prices. In conclusion, the results of the study revealed that farmers in the region produce onions with application of higher rates of inorganic mineral NP fertilizers than the rates commonly recommended by the research system. The results also showed that the farmers did not subject harvested onion bulbs to any post-harvest management practices for enhancing shelf-life and marketability of the crop.
| Published in | Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Volume 2, Issue 5) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.aff.20130205.12 |
| Page(s) | 184-195 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Inorganic Fertilizers, Farmyard Manure, Organic Fertilizer, Soil Fertility Management
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APA Style
Negasi Tekeste A., Nigussie Dechassa R., Kebede Woldetsadik, Lemma Dessalegne, Abuhay Takele. (2013). Characterization of Soil Nutrient Management and Post-harvest Handling Practices for Onion Production in the Central Rift Valley Region of Ethiopia. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 2(5), 184-195. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20130205.12
ACS Style
Negasi Tekeste A.; Nigussie Dechassa R.; Kebede Woldetsadik; Lemma Dessalegne; Abuhay Takele. Characterization of Soil Nutrient Management and Post-harvest Handling Practices for Onion Production in the Central Rift Valley Region of Ethiopia. Agric. For. Fish. 2013, 2(5), 184-195. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20130205.12
AMA Style
Negasi Tekeste A., Nigussie Dechassa R., Kebede Woldetsadik, Lemma Dessalegne, Abuhay Takele. Characterization of Soil Nutrient Management and Post-harvest Handling Practices for Onion Production in the Central Rift Valley Region of Ethiopia. Agric For Fish. 2013;2(5):184-195. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20130205.12
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Download@article{10.11648/j.aff.20130205.12,
author = {Negasi Tekeste A. and Nigussie Dechassa R. and Kebede Woldetsadik and Lemma Dessalegne and Abuhay Takele},
title = {Characterization of Soil Nutrient Management and Post-harvest Handling Practices for Onion Production in the Central Rift Valley Region of Ethiopia},
journal = {Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
volume = {2},
number = {5},
pages = {184-195},
doi = {10.11648/j.aff.20130205.12},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20130205.12},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aff.20130205.12},
abstract = {Onion is an important cash crop for smallholder farmers in the Central Rift Valley Region of Ethiopia. A survey was conducted during the off-season of 2011 to document nutrient management and post-harvest handling practices in onion production in four districts (Adama, Merti, Dugda Bora and Adamitulu-Jiddokombolcha) in the region. Data were collected from 128 farmers using a standard questionnaire and focus group discussions. The results revealed that all of the sampled smallholder onion growing farmers used Diammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea whilst only 10.9% and 5.5% used farmyard manure (FYM) and compost, respectively. The growers on average used 298.8 kg ha-1 Urea and 299.21 kg DAP ha-1. Only small amounts of farmyard manure (1.71 t ha-1) and compost (1.56 t ha-1) were applied by the onion growers. The data also showed that farmers did not practise curing and storing of onion bulbs, and sold the produce on the field during harvest at farm-gate prices. In conclusion, the results of the study revealed that farmers in the region produce onions with application of higher rates of inorganic mineral NP fertilizers than the rates commonly recommended by the research system. The results also showed that the farmers did not subject harvested onion bulbs to any post-harvest management practices for enhancing shelf-life and marketability of the crop.},
year = {2013}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Characterization of Soil Nutrient Management and Post-harvest Handling Practices for Onion Production in the Central Rift Valley Region of Ethiopia AU - Negasi Tekeste A. AU - Nigussie Dechassa R. AU - Kebede Woldetsadik AU - Lemma Dessalegne AU - Abuhay Takele Y1 - 2013/09/20 PY - 2013 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20130205.12 DO - 10.11648/j.aff.20130205.12 T2 - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries JF - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries JO - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries SP - 184 EP - 195 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-5648 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20130205.12 AB - Onion is an important cash crop for smallholder farmers in the Central Rift Valley Region of Ethiopia. A survey was conducted during the off-season of 2011 to document nutrient management and post-harvest handling practices in onion production in four districts (Adama, Merti, Dugda Bora and Adamitulu-Jiddokombolcha) in the region. Data were collected from 128 farmers using a standard questionnaire and focus group discussions. The results revealed that all of the sampled smallholder onion growing farmers used Diammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea whilst only 10.9% and 5.5% used farmyard manure (FYM) and compost, respectively. The growers on average used 298.8 kg ha-1 Urea and 299.21 kg DAP ha-1. Only small amounts of farmyard manure (1.71 t ha-1) and compost (1.56 t ha-1) were applied by the onion growers. The data also showed that farmers did not practise curing and storing of onion bulbs, and sold the produce on the field during harvest at farm-gate prices. In conclusion, the results of the study revealed that farmers in the region produce onions with application of higher rates of inorganic mineral NP fertilizers than the rates commonly recommended by the research system. The results also showed that the farmers did not subject harvested onion bulbs to any post-harvest management practices for enhancing shelf-life and marketability of the crop. VL - 2 IS - 5 ER -
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