Vermiculture Technology Promotion Through on Farm Validation of Vermicompost in Asossa Zone of Western Ethiopia

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted for two consecutive cropping seasons (2020- 2021) on farmers’ fields in the Asossa  zone of Benishangul Gumuz Regional State. The objective of this study was  to promote vermicompost or vermiculture technology on the farmer’s field. The treatments included three selected combinations of organic and inorganic nutrient sources, including NPS, NPS plus 100% N from vermicompost, and NPS plus 100% N from Urea.  The design was replicated over the farmer’s field. Results showed that from 2020 to 2021, the vermicompost technology was demonstrated on 15 farmers' fields with plot size 10mx10m planted with hot pepper, maize and sorghum crops. The results indicated that all crops treated with recommended NPS plus 100% N  from vermicompost performed better than NPS alone and NPS plus N from Urea. The application of recommended NPS plus 100% of N from vermicompost based on N equivalency was higher in grain yield of maize by 80.2% and 51.7% compared to the control N and application of recommended NPS plus 100% of N from inorganic fertilizers, respectively. Additionally, the application of recommended NPS plus 100% of N from vermicompost based on N equivalency was higher in grain yield of sorghum by 44.8% and 16.2% compared to the control N and application of recommended phosphorous plus 100% of  N from inorganic fertilizers, respectively. Therefore, it is better to scale out the vermicompost/vermiculture technology on wider areas of the same agroecologies of Benishangul Gumuz Regional State.