REVIEW OF SOIL FERTILITY INTERVENTIONS IN ...

6 downloads 0 Views 1MB Size Report
Hussen Ahmed, Soil & More, Ziway, Email: hussen.ahmed@gmail.com tel: 0911523940. 8. Farm Africa. ✓ x x. PO Box 5746. Addis Ababa. 9. Mekele University.
REVIEW OF SOIL FERTILITY INTERVENTIONS IN ETHIOPIA

By Wassie Haile (PhD) Assistant professor of Soil Science College of Agriculture, Hawassa University, Ethiopia

Research finding Report Submitted to Fertile Ground Initiatives (FGI)

December, 2016 Hawassa, Ethiopia i

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EIAR

Ethiopian institute of agricultural research

ESSS

Ethiopian Soil Science Society

FGI

Fertile Ground Initiative

FYM

Farm Yard Manure

ILRI

International Livestock Research Institute

ISD

Integrated Sustainable Development

ISFM

Integrated Soil Fertility Management

SOM

Soil Organic Matter

SLM

Sustainable Land Management

OSA

Organic Soil Amendments

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents

Pages

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ iii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF APPENDIX TABLES ................................................................................................ vii EXCUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................... viii 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Background of the Study ......................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Statement of the problem ......................................................................................................... 3 1.3. Objective of the study .............................................................................................................. 4 1.4. Significance of the Review ...................................................................................................... 5 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE .................................................................................................. 6 2.1. Importance of Organic Materials to Sustain Soil Productivity ................................................ 6 2.2. Soil Fertility Management ....................................................................................................... 7 2.2.1. Manure .................................................................................................................................. 7 2.2.2. Crop residues......................................................................................................................... 8 2.2.3. Mineral Fertilizer .................................................................................................................. 8 2.2.4. Integrated Nutrient Management .......................................................................................... 9 2.2.5. Recycling organic matter .................................................................................................... 10 2.3. Compost ................................................................................................................................. 10 2.3.1. Compost: Source of Organic Matter for Soils .................................................................... 10 2.3.2. Effects of Compost on Soil Chemical Properties ............................................................... 11 3. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................. 12 3.1. Activities in Phase-1 .............................................................................................................. 12 3.2. Activities Phase-2 .................................................................................................................. 13 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................. 14 4.1. Institutions/Organizations engaged with soil organic amendments in Ethiopia .................... 14 4.2. Publication focusing on soil organic amendments in Ethiopia .............................................. 17 4.3. Inventory of organic soil amendments by agro-ecology........................................................ 18 4.4. Quality characteristics of OSA .............................................................................................. 20 4.5. Review of Organic amendments on the yield of crops in Ethiopia ....................................... 20 4.6. Effect of soil amendments on Soil quality ............................................................................. 23 4.7. Effect of Soil organic amendments on carbon sequestration ............................................... 24 4.8. Review of drivers and inhibitors of organic amendments (Compost) in Ethiopia ................ 25

iii

5. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................ 26 6. REFRENCE ............................................................................................................................. 32 7. ANNEXES ............................................................................................................................... 37

iv

LIST OF TABLES Table

Page

Table 1. Location and the corresponding agroecologies ............................................................ 18 Table 2. Effect of composting method on compost quality. ......................................................... 20 *Table 3. Average yields for seven crops in Tigray ..................................................................... 21

v

LIST OF FIGURES Figure

Page

Figure 1. Organization/institutions involving on activities. ........................................................................ 14 Figure 2. Types of activities being conducted by organization. .................................................................. 15 Figure 3. Types of publication on organic amendments in Ethiopia ........................................................... 17 Figure 4. Agroecology Map of Ethiopia. ................................................................................................... 19 Figure 5. Effect of soil organic amendments............................................................................................... 21 *Figure 6. Average yields for grain and straw for all crop samples in Tigray ........................................... 22 Figure 7. Barley crop grown with different treatments at HagerSelam, Southern Ethiopia. ....................... 23 Figure 8. Effect of different soil treatments on soil quality indicators. ...................................................... 24 Figure 9. Effect of different treatments on soil organic carbon content of soils ........................................ 25

vi

LIST OF APPENDIX TABLES Table

Page

Appendix Table 1. List of organizations in Ethiopia with stake on organic................................. 38 Appendix Table 2. List/D-base of publications focusing on organic. .......................................... 39 Appendix Table 3. Summary of the impacts of organic ............................................................... 43

vii

EXCUTIVE SUMMARY With unprecedented increase in pre-urban and urban population in Ethiopia, there is increasing concern that a large amount of organic solid wastes which are rich sources of plant nutrients are generated and damped in the land fill sites at the outskirts of cities which otherwise should have been recycled back to fertilize the rural soils. Moreover, with increase in the number of agro industries in Ethiopia such as flower farms, a lot of organic wastes are generated every day which are also containing a large amount of plant essential nutrients. Thus, if solid wastes generated by different sources continue to be handled in the future in the same way as they are being handled currently, they will cause environmental, economic and social problems. On the other hand, the increasing cost and other problems associated with commercial fertilizers are limiting the indiscriminate uses of these inputs to replenish nutrients lost from rural farming land through various pathways. This will ultimately deplete the soil nutrient reserve in rural area which in turn will severely decrease agricultural production and productivity. Thus, there is a need to devise a strategy that properly handle and dispose solid wastes generated by diverse sources in Ethiopia. At this point, it is crucial to note that organic solid wastes are problem posing materials if we leave them as they are. Otherwise, they are highly invaluable materials which can be converted to different useful products. The immediate useful product that can be obtained from solid waste is the production of organic fertilizers in the form of compost. Organic fertilizers produced from such organic solid wastes can be used to fertilize soil in rural area and/or can be used as an input in urban agriculture. The question is how can it be done? Who should do the task of producing compost from organic waste?, Who should deliver the compost to the users etc?. These questions are very relevant because nutrient cycling from organic waste or compost production requires manpower, financial resources, some facilities etc. This shows that the job can be performed neither by government nor by NGOs on permanent basis. Thus, the best way or strategy for addressing the problem is to make solid waste recycling/compost production a business activity. By this it means that private enterprise, individuals or public organization or any interested body can produce organic fertilizer from solid wastes from different sources and sell it to the users. With this strategy, there will be several opportunities such as it creates employment opportunities, serve as source of income, decrease or avoid pollution of the environment resulting from accumulated waste materials and avail organic fertilizer to improve soil fertility as alternative or supplementary to inorganic fertilizers. Moreover, the most important aspect of this strategy is that the business can be permanent and sustainable due to the fact that large amounts of organic solid wastes are being generated from major cities in Ethiopia and some agro industries every day which can be converted into high valuable organic fertilizers through composting techniques. So there won’t be shortage of feed stocks for those enterprises involved in compost production and selling business. Moreover, there is increasing trend of urban agricultural activities so that those individuals involved in this activity could be customers to compost produced from urban solid wastes. Similarly, rural famers if made aware can be excellent buyers of organic fertilizers of compost produced from urban and pre-urban area and even nutrient cycling from different feed stocks including crop residues in the rural areas can be made business activity. However, this can be achieved through awareness creation; involvement of stakeholders, creation of fertile conditions for those interested in organic fertilizer production and marketing. To this end, the fertile ground initiative (FGI) which is operational in three countries in Africa including Ethiopia has devised a strategy on ways of converting organic fertilizer into business. FGI itself is a strategy for coordination of collaboration among actors in nutrient management at various spatial scales so that geographic areas of high nutrient accumulation will be linked to areas of high nutrient depletion which ultimately enable to redistribute and balance of nutrients between the two extremes. The strategy consists of eight components viz. 1.Demand assessment (Famers’ need assessment), 2.Product viii

formulation and processing (supply arrangement), 3.Brokerage (matching demand with supply side) 4. Calculating real nutrient demand, 5.Marketing (business case design, trade and transportation), 6.Capacity building,7.Institutional arrangements and 8.Creating an enabling environment (policy environment). As part of this strategy and goal, FGI sought comprehensive background information on soil fertility intervention in Ethiopia. Thus, to obtain the required information, a study was conducted in 2015/16 with the following objectives: 1. To make inventory of institutions engaged in activities involving soil organic amendments and identify specific tasks with which they are engaged with. 2. To obtain an overview of the result of different soil intervention with a focus on compost ‘ application in Ethiopia. 3. To oversee the effectiveness of different soil intervention on soil fertility ,organic matter and nutrient status under different agro ecological condition and farming systems. 4. To assess drivers and inhibitors for using compost in Ethiopia. Information was collected through questionnaire, direct search of publication in libraries of relevant institution, Google search engine and through personal communication. The D-base of publications was created and relevant data from the publications were selected and meta- analyses of data on the effect of soil organic amendments on crop response indicators were analyzed using SAS software. Information on effects of soil organic amendments on soil quality indicators and soil carbon sequestration were also synthesized. The results revealed that there are currently a total of fifteen institutions/organization engaged in various aspects of OSA and 53.3, 33.2 and 13.3 % of them were belong to government organization, nongovernmental organization and private enterprise respectively. The different activities being done on OSA by these institutions was categorized into five different groups namely research, extension, policy, knowledge management (training, publication etc.) and production. These categories of jobs on OSA account for 35.3, 17.6, 11.8, 23.5 and 11.8 % of the total activities respectively. The result showed that the commercial production of OSA (compost) is done by only two organizations in the country despite the huge potential for such business in Ethiopia. However, it should be considered as a good and encouraging start as it will inspire other in the future to involve in this sector. A total of thirty nine publications focusing on OSA were identified and documented. The publications were belonging to books (12.8%), theses (10.2 %), presentations (7.7%), proceedings (20.5%) and Journals (48.7%). The existing information on OSA was based on works done in five agroecologies of Ethiopia which represents only 27 % of major eighteen agroecologies found in the country. SOA such as compost are being produced from diverse types of feed stocks which include Chat reside, urban solid waste, crop residue, solid wastes from agro industries (rose waste), farm yard manure, weeds (Example, Parthenium, notorious exotic evasive weed) and green biomass of indigenous trees (Example, Erythrina species biomass). Four different compost preparation methods were identified which were: Traditional/ famers’ method, conventional method, vermin-composting and windrow method of compost production. The result of meta analysis of data on the effect of OSA on the yields of crops revealed that OSA increased the yield of crops by more 100 % over the control and it was able to produce yield equal to or higher than crop yields produced with inorganic fertilizers suggesting that it can replace fertilizers as cheap and sustainable source of nutrients for crop production in Ethiopia. However, the analysis further revealed that the highest crop yield was achieved with integrated application of OSA and fertilizers indicating synergistic interaction between the two fertilizers. Moreover, it was found that OSA treated soils had higher quantities of soil quality indicators ( pH, OC, TN etc.) than those treated with fertilizers and untreated check indicating that OSA are also important to improve soil quality and sustainability. OSA (Example, compost) treated soils have been shown to sequester higher amount of carbon in the soil ix

than those treated with fertilizer or check suggesting the contribution of OSA to mitigate climate change impacts. Major gaps identified related to the production and uses of OSA Even if there are a good start in the production and uses of OSA in Ethiopia as organic fertilizer, as a source of income and an eco-friendly methods of replenishing soil fertility, a lot remains to be done to exploit the full potential of organic nutrient sources that are generated as a waste by diverse sources every day which are considered as troubling and polluting materials to the environments. In this respect, some key challenges /gaps on production and uses of OSA were identified and listed below:  Insufficient work on research and dissemination of information about OSA in different agroecologies of the country.  Lack of awareness among potential users of OSA  Insufficient training activities on the management and uses of OSA.  Among rural famers, illiteracy, insufficient extension service etc were found to be barriers to adoption of OSA.  No or insufficient linkage and collaboration among stakeholders on OSA.  Very few organizations involved in commercial production of OSA/compost.  Lack of national roadmap for commercial production and selling of OSA/compost.  Lack of institution for standardizing compost quality and certifying agent. Recommendations Thus, in order to effectively bridge these gaps and fully exploit the potential of diverse organic nutrient sources (urban and pre-urban solid wastes, wastes from agro-industries, crop residues etc.) as soil organic amendments/organic fertilizers through the use of fast and efficient nutrient cycling technologies, the following key points are recommended:  More research on nutrient cycling methods (composting) of different feed stocks especially urban solid waste and wastes generated by agro-industries are needed.  Intensive training on nutrient cycling methods to famers is crucial.  Awareness creation through various pathways including training, media, and field demonstration etc on the importance of OSA as alternative or supplementary means of increasing soil fertility and maintaining soil sustainability is recommended.  Comprehensive national road map for nutrient cycling and organic fertilizer production, marketing and use that will serve as a major guide for those stakeholders who are involving and will involve in the future is recommended.  Organic fertilizer quality control and certifying authority is recommended to be established.  Encouragement and incentive are needed to attract more and more private/public sector to involve in commercial production of OSA (compost) especially from urban and pre-urban organic solid wastes.  This in turn requires creation of markets for OSA (compost) which still needs to be done through awareness creation and promotion of organic fertilizers to relevant customers.  All of the above targets can only be achieved however when all stakeholders (private, GO, public, NGO, Academia etc.) come together and collaborate among each other and contribute to ways and methods of conversion of diverse types of organic waste into useful and marketable products.  For this to be realized there is a need to establish national coordinating body.  There is a need to organize a national workshop where by papers on research findings, technological innovations and experiences on OSA will be presented and shared among stakeholders; and publish proceeding of papers. x

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1.

Background of the Study

Declining soil fertility is one of the most significant constraints to increased food production in Ethiopia (Gete et al., 2010). Anthropogenic factors such as inappropriate land use systems, mono cropping, nutrients mining and inadequate supply of nutrients are aggravated the situation. In order to increase soil fertility in the short run, nutrients have to be added to the soil. This is often done by applying chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers, however, are expensive to purchase and for most small scale farmers this is a problem (Gete et al., 2010). Hence, to sustain the balance of soil fertility and to ensure agricultural productivity adoption of composting technology and application of amenable compost is quite essential. Many researchers stated that unavailability and low quality of organic materials, and shortage of labor constrained the use of organic materials for soil fertility management in the tropics. However, considerable amounts of organic materials are wasted without proper use especially in humid and sub-humid agro ecosystem of western Ethiopia. If these locally available organic materials such compost, crop residues, FYM, appropriate crop rotation, and improved fallow are used based on socio-economic circumstances of farming communities, the investment in organic fertilizers processing and application is not more than the cost of inorganic fertilizers. The sole application of either organic or inorganic fertilizers on degraded soils can hardly increased crop yield in the tropics (Palm et al., 1997). The need for organic fertilizer application is acute in Ethiopia, as well as in other Sub-Saharan African countries, where land degradation is a serious concern (Smaling et al., 1997). Long-term experimental studies show that continuous cultivation using low external inputs decreases soil fertility and crop yields. A combination of mineral and organic fertilizers is necessary to sustain and improve crop production on depleted soils (Bationo et al., 2006). Because the organic fertilizer is usually generated internally within a farming system, the total amount of soil nutrients does not increase unless external resources are brought in. Soil scientists, however, 1

show that the nitrogen efficiency could be improved significantly by improving farm management at various steps starting from livestock feeding to crop harvesting (Rufino et al., 2006). Although there have been some economic studies on crop livestock farming systems in the past (McIntire et al., 1992), but nor has identified the causal of adopting organic fertilizer on crop production at household level. The presence of organic matter in the soil is fundamental in maintaining the soil fertility and decreasing nutrient losses. Thus, compost is a good organic fertilizer because it contains nutrients as well as organic matter. Organic matter plays number of important roles in soils, both in their physical structure and as a medium for biological activity. In addition, organic matter makes its greatest contribution to soil productivity. It provides nutrients to the soil, improves its water holding capacity, and helps the soil to maintain good tilt and thereby better aeration for germinating seeds and plant root development (Edwards and Hailu, 2011). Soil fertility is also associated with mineralization of nutrients contained in organic matter and their release in plant- available form to the soil solution. Mineralization is the result of normal biological cycles within the soil and can be stimulated by the addition of appropriate quality compost and cultivation (Paulin and Peter, 2008). Because mineralization occurs over extended periods it can make important contribution to plant growth and to minimizing the impact of leaching associated with rainfall and excess irrigation (Paulin and Peter, 2008). Furthermore, adding artificial fertilizer alone is not sufficient to retain a sufficient level of soil fertility. Organic matter is needed to retain the water and nutrient. In degraded soil, where there is little organic matter, yield response is limited, even if artificial fertilizer are being used (Madeleine et al., 2005). In general, the agriculture sector in Ethiopia is the most important sector in terms of sustaining growth and reducing poverty. However, lack of adequate nutrient supply, the depletion of organic matter in soils, and soil erosion are among the major obstacles to sustainable improvements in agricultural production. Progress in adopting farm technologies, specifically, organic fertilizer has been very slow in many parts of Ethiopia, even though the country has great potential in this regard because of surplus labor, huge crop diversity, and huge livestock potential. 2

1.2.

Statement of the problem

Land degradation has become a global environmental threat currently drawing wide spread attention from the international community. It has an abysmal effect on agricultural productivity especially in developing countries where agriculture remains one of the largest sectors in the economy. In such agriculture-based low-income countries, reversing the deterioration of land productivity resulting from environmental degradation, and ensuring adequate food supplies to the fast growing population is a formidable challenge. One of the major problems affecting food production in Africa including Ethiopia is the rapid depletion of nutrients in smallholder farms (Badiane and Delgado, 1995; Achieng et al., 2010). Soil nutrient replenishment is therefore a prerequisite for halting soil fertility decline. This may be accomplished through the application of mineral and organic fertilizers (Wakene et al., 2005). Animal manures are valuable sources of nutrients and the yield-increasing effect of manure is well established (Leonard, 1986; Wakene et al., 2005; Silvia et al., 2006). Organic matter in the soil improves soil physical conditions by improving soil structure, increases waterholding capacity, and improves soil structure and aeration, as well as regulating the soil temperature (Gachene and Gathiru, 2003; Wakene et al., 2005). Organic matter contains small varying amounts of plants nutrients, especially nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which are slowly released into the soil for plant uptake (Gachene and Gathiru, 2003; Achieng et al., 2010). Many researchers stated that unavailability and low quality of organic materials, and shortage of labor constrained the use of organic materials for soil fertility management in the tropics. However, considerable amounts of organic materials are wasted without proper use especially in humid and sub-humid agro ecosystem of western Ethiopia. If these locally available organic materials such compost, crop residues, FYM, appropriate crop rotation, and improved fallow are used based on socio-economic circumstances of farming communities, the investment in organic Fertilizers processing and application is not more than the cost of inorganic fertilizers. The sole application of either organic or inorganic fertilizers on degraded soils can hardly increased crop yield in the tropics (Palm et al., 1997).

3

Low soil fertility is one of the bottlenecks to sustain agricultural production and productivity in Ethiopia. Anthropogenic factors such as inappropriate land use systems, mono-cropping, nutrient mining and inadequate supply of nutrients are aggravated the situation. To alleviate the problem, INM is an option as it utilizes available organic and inorganic nutrients to build ecologically sound and economically viable farming system (Gruhn et al., 2000). It is, therefore, essential to look for agricultural practices that minimize degradation problem and at the same time increase agricultural productivity. Hence, improving soil fertility management among smallholder farmers is widely recognized as a critical aspect in addressing food security and poverty (Tchale et al., 2004) through increasing agricultural productivity and at the same time curbing problems of nutrient depletion. In this regard, it is necessary for farmers to adopt inorganic fertilizers and organic manures, among others. The need for organic fertilizer application is acute in Ethiopia, as well as in other Sub-Saharan African countries, where land degradation is a serious concern (Smaling et al., 1997). Long-term experimental studies show that continuous cultivation using low external inputs decreases soil fertility and crop yields. The use of compost is part of an organic agriculture system that emphasizes maximum reliance on renewable farm and other local resources. Compost is an organic fertilizer that has the advantage that it improves soil structure and aeration, increases the soil’s water-holding capacity and stimulates healthy root development (Twarog, 2006). Thus, compost may be appealing options for enhancing productivity with resource-poor farmers, especially in developing countries. 1.3.

Objective of the study

The overall objectives of the study were:  To make inventory of institutions having programs/ activities on soil organic amendments and identify specific tasks they are doing.

 To obtain an overview of the result of different soil intervention with a focus on compost application in Ethiopia 4

 To oversee the effectiveness of different soil intervention on soil fertility ,organic matter and nutrient status under different agro ecological condition and farming systems  To assess drivers and inhibitors for using compost in Ethiopia 1.4.

Significance of the Review

Ethiopia faces a wide set of soil fertility issues that require approaches that go beyond the application of chemical fertilizers– the only practice applied at scale to date. Core constraints include topsoil erosion (some sources list Ethiopia among the most severely erosion-affected countries in the world, along with Lesotho and Haiti (FAO Land Degradation Assessment, citing Young (1998)); acidity-affected soils covering over 40 percent of the country, significantly depleted organic matter due to wide spread use of biomass as fuel, depleted macro and micronutrients, depletion of soil physical properties, and soil salinity. Increased uses of organic sources of diverse type as sole nutrient sources or as integral component of ISMF are considered as a key approach to improving soil fertility, enhance land sustainability and mitigate climate change effects in Ethiopia and elsewhere in the world. This review paper will help to obtain and identify gaps with different intervention, which have been undertaken to improve soil fertility status of Ethiopia through the application of different organic amendments practices especially towards the use of compost across different agroecology of Ethiopia.

5

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1.

Importance of Organic Materials to Sustain Soil Productivity

Driven by climate change and population growth; increasing human pressure on land forces conversion of natural landscapes to agricultural fields and pastures while simultaneously depleting land currently under agricultural use (Lal, 2009). Consequently, a vicious circle develops; further aggravating climate change, soil degradation, erosion, loss of soil organic matter (SOM) and leaching of nutrients. Therefore, sustainable concepts for increased food production are urgently needed to lower pressure on soils, in order to reduce or prevent the negative environmental impacts of intensive agriculture. A key for such strategies is the maintenance or increase of SOM level inducing positive ecosystem services such as increased productivity, nutrient and water storage, intact filter capacity, rooting, aeration and habitat for soil organism. Soil organic matter is of crucial importance for maintaining soil quality by improving biological, physical and chemical soil conditions. It consists of a variety of simple and complex carbon compounds. While the stable SOM pool is characterized by hardly decomposable organic compounds with several beneficial, long-term effects for soil amelioration and conservation, the labile pool of SOM provides easily accessible food for soil organisms and nutrients for plant growth (Termorshuizen et al., 2005). Even though the importance of SOM for the ecological functionality, efficiency and performance of soils is obvious, its worldwide reduction due to intensive agriculture gives cause for concern (Lal, 2009). According to Termorshuizen et al. (2005), the reduction of SOM has multiple reasons, but increased SOM mineralization rates due to intensive soil tillage and use of mineral fertilizers, which has often resulted in decreased application of organic soil conditioners and fertilizers, are among the most important ones. In order to sustain agricultural productivity in the long term, SOM needs to be maintained by continuous addition of organic residues and amendments. Soil organic matter reproduction rate increases in the order green manure, leaves 15%, slurry, straw, liquid digestate 20 – 30%, fresh compost, stable manure, solid digestate 35 - 45%, mature compost > 50% (Fischer and Glaser, 2012). The main factors for SOM enrichment are quantity, type and humification degree of 6

compost and soil properties such as soil type and clay content. Mature composts increase SOM much better than fresh and immature composts due to their higher level of stable C (Bouajila and Sanaa, 2011). There are few trials which show no significant differences in SOM level by the application of diverse C sources (straw, manure, compost). But the majority of studies of different authors have unambiguously proven a better humus reproduction for composted materials (Amlinger et al., 2007). According to the same authors, the average SOM demand of agriculturally used soils can be met by applying 7 – 10 Mg (dry matter) compost ha-1. Therefore, for a long-term increase of SOM, more than 10 Mg dry matter compost ha-1 is required. 2.2.

Soil Fertility Management

Many researchers belief in the hopelessness of the recovery of soil such as Mulugeta (2005) reviewed that the soil is heavily degraded and it would thus take centuries to recover. But evidences show smallholder farmers are maximizing returns from their limited land and capital, minimize production risks, diversify sources of income, provide food and increase productivity (Aseffa, 2005). This is because Ethiopian farmers are endowed with diverse systems of soil fertility improvement suited to the various agro-ecologies of the country and sustain family livelihood. The longer years of this mixed farming goes side by side with local soil fertility management practices (Aseffa,2005; Hagos et al., 1999) such as animal manure, crop residues, crop rotation, mineral fertilizer, compost etc to cope with declining soil fertility, which differ among farmers and among locations (Elias, 2002). 2.2.1. Manure Since time immemorial, animal manure is the prime source of the soil fertility management to improvement way for many farmers of Ethiopia. Traditionally, it is used as fertilizer to ameliorate soil fertility depletion in any parts of Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular. For example, the study conducted by Elias (2002) reported that 87percent of Kindo Koisha (Southern Ethiopia) farmers apply animal manure. This is because applying animal manure has residual effect in the soil (Tegene, 1998; Elias, 2002). The effect varies based on the amounts applied. However, it is dependent on the availability of livestock and family labor for transporting into

7

their fields (Elias, 2002). But today it is also extensively used as source of household energy (Aseffa, 2005). 2.2.2. Crop residues Crop residues include the above-ground biomass of plants remaining in the field after grains, tubers and other products have been collected. The crop residues are incorporated into the soil and /or left as mulch (Elias, 2002). It is a way of directly recycling nutrients into the soil taken by the plants from the soil earlier. It is used for soil protection and soil fertility improvement (Smith and Elliott, 1990). Normally in Ethiopia crop residues are removed for animal feed (Araya and Edwards, 2006; Elias, 2002). But according to a study by Elias (2002) about 42 percent of farmers in Kindo Koisha apply crop residues for improving their soil fertility. While others immediately plough fields top protect roaming of animals due to the free range grazing practices (Araya and Edwards, 2006). 2.2.3. Mineral Fertilizer In order to increase agricultural yields, the government of Ethiopia has launched an extension package which gives more attention to high external inputs and high yielding varieties (Yohannes, 1999; Elias, 2002). The introduction of mineral fertilizers to Ethiopia started in the 1970s by the Ministry of Agriculture through Wolaita Agricultural Development Unit (Elias, 2002). The national recommended application rate for Ethiopia is 100 kg of diammoniumphosphate (DAP) and 50 kg Urea per hectare (Elias, 2002).But the real experience is showing that farmers are applying only smaller amounts of mineral fertilizer between 7 and 10 kg.ha-1 annually (MOARD, 2007; Elias, 2002; Pender et al., 1999).By 1995 only two-third of the rural households in Ethiopia have been using mineral fertilizer at this lower rate (Pender et al., 1999). Most of the mineral fertilizer is used in irrigated fields (Aseffa, 2005). However, many farmers are reluctant to use chemical fertilizer. This is because it is the limited capacity of the farmers to purchase and fear of debt (Elias, 2002), unreliable rainfall (World Bank, 2007) and the ever increasing cost of mineral fertilizer (Elias, 2002). The sharp drop in the prices of harvested products is also another reason (Müller-Sämann and Kotschi, 1994; Tegene, 1987).

8

2.2.4. Integrated Nutrient Management Drechsel et al. (2001) reported that the application of recommended mineral fertilizers do not improve the negative nutrient balance due to the higher nutrient removal from the soils. It is because inputs (natural and man-made) are only possible to partially compensate the removal (Bationo et al., 1998). Many researches recommend integrated soil amendment practices because single application or practices could not reverse the existing problem (Eichler-Lobermann et al., 2007). It increases the level of soil organic matter, the efficient utilization of nutrients with minimum nutrient losses and integration of appropriate technologies (Onwonga and Freyer, 2006). Integrated nutrient management practices are survival and risk avoidance strategies of farmers. The existing cultural and social institutions of communities makes labour demanding systems appropriate (Tegene, 1987). Farmers are highly linked to their innovative practices in bringing new and productive farming systems such as creating proper synergy by mixing compost and mineral fertilizer (Harris, 1998). Such as the study by Channappagoudar et al. (2007) and Manyong et al. (2001) compost and animal manure amended with mineral fertilizer gave higher yield than mineral fertilizer or compost alone. The study by Mugwe et al. (2007) in Kenya showed that combining 30 kgha-1yr-1 inorganic N fertilizer with legume plants (Tithonia, Calliandra and Leucaena) or cattle manure obtained a significantly higher yield of maize as compared with the application of legume plants, organic and inorganic fertilizer alone. This is an indication of achieving better yield out of all options from the varieties of technologies for farmers’ choices to improve their yield match with their complex agricultural system. For example, the Sudano Sahelian zones of West Africa, indigenous SWC increased sorghum yield by upto 1500 kgha-1 agroforestry improved up to 30% of N required by crops by planting leguminous hedgerows (Bationo et al., 1998). A study by Dakora and Keya (1997) showed that about 43-581 kg N ha-1.y-1 can be fixed through leaf pruning of legume trees such as Sesbania sesban can provide up to 448, 31 and 125 kg.ha-1yr-1 N, P and K respectively.

9

2.2.5. Recycling organic matter The mixed farming practices of Ethiopian farmers is a system of removing biomass from one place and feeding human and animal in another place. This requires to return the biomass to their origin. Recycling of organic matter is also one way of re-importing nutrients from nearby urban areas, which were removed as food staff from the rural setting. These have different potential alternatives for diverting organic waste into compost (Smiciklas et al., 2008). There are other different additional sources of biomass for compost making such as: recycling of organic materials are clearing waste disposals (Erhart et al., 2007) and irrigation waste and poultry (Eusuf Zai et al., 2008). These are important indicators for the need of effective organic waste management and closing the natural ecological cycles (Erhart et al., 2007). Because compost making is bringing waste management alternatives, which decrease disposal costs and recycle nutrients for maintaining and improving soil quality and crop growth (Smiciklas et al., 2008). 2.3.

Compost

The generalized definition of compost is as follows "compost is a recycled or decomposed organic waste from different crop residues, animal and human manure and wastes and sludge being stabilized by the work of macro- and micro-organisms through aerobic, semi-aerobic and anaerobic biological processes inside a pit and/or on a surface" (Katovich et al., 2005; Elias, 2002; Abawi and Widmer, 2000; Roulac, 1996; Taddesse and Abdissa, 1996). 2.3.1. Compost: Source of Organic Matter for Soils Among the practices recommended for improvement of the soil quality and soil fertility in tropical regions is the application of composted organic wastes, which slowly release significant amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus (Muse, 1993; Zibilske, 1987; Eghball, 2001). Frequently, the regular use of organic material (compost) is a prerequisite for sustained upland soils with inherent low natural fertility (Schoningh and Wichmann, 1990). As reported by Nyamangara et. al. (2003), management of soil organic matter by using composted organic waste is the key for sustainable agriculture. Increasing soil organic matter has the added benefit of improving soil quality and thereby enhancing the long-term sustainability of agriculture (Laird et al., 2001). Within the possibilities of economical procurement of organic matter, a farmer should “feed” the 10

soil organisms for maximum activity, which means frequent additions of easily decomposed organic matter (Cook and Ellis, 1987). Compost does several things to benefit the soil that synthetic fertilizer cannot do. First, it adds organic matter, which improves the way water interacts with the soil. In sandy soils, compost acts as sponge to help retain water in the soil that would otherwise drain down below the reach of plant roots, protecting the plant against drought. In clay soils, compost helps to add porosity to the soil, making it drain easier so that it does not stay waterlogged and does not dry out into a bricklike substance. Compost also inoculates the soil with vast numbers of beneficial microbes (bacteria, fungi, etc.) that promote biological activity of the soil (Muse, 1993; Zibilske, 1987). These microbes are able to extract nutrients from the mineral part of the soil and eventually pass the nutrients on to plant (Johnson, 1996). Furthermore, properly processed compost reduces soil borne diseases without the use of chemical control (Rynk et al.; 1992, Minnich and Hunt, 1979). The disease suppressing quality of compost is just beginning to be widely recognized and appreciated. Farm fields treated with compost are also less prone to erosion. In short, high quality compost will do more for soil fertility and soil quality than commercial fertilizer. The use of composted organic waste as fertilizer and soil amendment not only results in an economic benefit to the small-scale farmer but it also reduces pollution due to reduced nutrient run-off, and N leaching (Nyamangara,2003). Most subsistence and small-scale farmers will be able to adopt the composting technology if they are introduced to it by participating in programs of research or demonstration of technologies. This provides them the means to accept the technology, but they will convince their peers to accept the technology with more effectiveness than government employees could convince those peers. 2.3.2. Effects of Compost on Soil Chemical Properties Compost contains significant amounts of valuable plant nutrients including N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S as well as a variety of essential trace elements (Madeleine et al., 2005). Thus, compost can be defined as an organic multi nutrient fertilizer (Amlinger et al., 2007). Its nutrient content as well as other important chemical properties like C/N ratio, pH and electrical conductivity (EC) depends on the used organic feed stocks and compost processing conditions. By an appropriate 11

mixture of these organic input materials, humus and nutrient-rich compost substrates can be produced which serving as a substitute for commercial mineral fertilizers in agriculture (Amlinger et al., 2007). However, their diverse beneficial properties for amelioration outreach their nutrient content.

3. METHODOLOGY To achieve the goals or objectives set in this consultancy work, relevant data collection and information were collected systematically and documented. Then, the data were carefully sorted documented and synthesized. After which interpretation of the result and discussion of the result in relation to relevant information from literature were made. In general the activities were done in two phases and the details of activities under each phase were described below.

3.1. Activities in Phase-1 Activities one Stakeholder mapping (Identify, analyze, Mapping and Prioritizing):-Identification of top priority stakeholders engaged in experimenting on organic amendments and having information showing the impact of organics on soil fertility, soil quality etc. Activities two Survey of institutions having research program to address soil fertility (through organic, ISMF etc.) following step one Based on the outcome of activity-1, institution and organization were surveyed. Information regarding the position of organic amendment research in organ gram of the institute in question, type of amendment being tested, crops, location etc. were collected through focused group discussion and using questionnaire (Annex-1). Inventory of publications focusing on the impacts of organic amendments on soil fertility, carbon sequestration, yield, income etc.

12



Publications on organic amendments from relevant institution were identified through direct inspection of documents in the library of identified institute, from internet sources, from individuals etc.



Then those published documents (Journals, proceedings, books etc.) were listed following

reference

listing

method

in

scientific

writing

style.

The

location/institute where a particular material is found were also indicated. 

From each relevant publication information such as gaps to the use of organic amendments, type of organic amendment, crop type, location/region where the experiment was conducted were collected.

Descriptive statistics such as mean, Frequency distribution etc. were used to summarize the data on type of organic amendments investigated, crops used in the study, regions, agro-ecologies etc. will be drawn from the collected information during the inventory. 3.2. Activities Phase-2 I.

Review and documentation of relevant data Review and documentation of relevant data drawn from selected publications showing the impacts of organic amendments soil nutrient balance, carbon sequestration, crop yield, income, etc. was made from identified sources in phase-1. D-base of information collected was created on excel sheet.

II.

Meta -analysis of the data means of comparing and combining the findings of previously published studies, usually to assess the effectiveness of an intervention or mode of treatment. To show the impact of organic amendments on soil quality, Carbon sequestration, socioeconomic impact, impacts on environment etc.). Information found in data base created in the first activity of phase two were sorted (treatments were predefined) and homogeneity and subjected to Meta statistical analysis.

III.

Report writing and submission to bidding agency Interpretation of the results/data generated from Meta-analysis was made and the data were represented in graphs and tables.

13

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1. Institutions/Organizations engaged with soil organic amendments in Ethiopia

Through this survey work, a total of fifteen organizations were indentified to engage in activities/tasks on organic soil amendments (OSA). These organizations were categorized into three groups viz. private, NGO and GO. The number of institutions/organizations in each group involved in OSA business is summarized in Fig. 1. Moreover, the list of these organization and their addresses are shown in Appendix Table 1. GOs are the major institutions engaged in various aspects of OSA. They accounts for over 50 % all organizations involved in activities related on OSAs. Especially, GOs are the major actors in policy making, research, and extension and training activities on OSA. NGOs are the next major stakeholders involved in diverse activities on OSA. However, the involvement of private sector in OSA activity is very low but in principle the role of private sectors in this sector should have been much higher than others in

Number

order to hasten nutrient cycling and environmental protection with urban solid wastes.

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Total

Private

NGO

GO

Types of organizations

Figure 1. Organization/institutions involving on activities related on soil organic amendments in Ethiopia.

14

Activity types being carried out on soil organic amendments by those organizations presented in Fig 1. above are shown in Fig. 2. The activities on OSA are categorized into five groups. The type of job being done by each organization and details of their addresses are also indicated in

Number

Appendix Table 1.

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Policy

Research

Extension

Production

Knowlge mgt/Training

Job Cetegory Figure 2. Types of activities being conducted by organization on soils organic amendments in Ethiopia.

Among the five major activities identified on soil organic amendments, research accounts for largest proportion (40%) of activities being done by organization/institutes indicated above. Knowledge management/training and extension tasks are next major activities in that order being done by organizations involved on soil organic amendments. Policy and commercial organic fertilizer production accounts for the lowest proportion of activities being done by stakeholders in soil organic amendment. The results suggest that the most likely reason for high percentage of research activity on organic amendments currently in Ethiopia could be attributed to lack of sufficient information on various aspects of organic amendments including methods of preparations of organic amendments such as compost, quality of organics amendments, sources and types of such materials as well as the effects of organic amendments on crop yield and sustainable soil productivity.

15

In this study, it was identified that there are only two organizations currently involved in commercial production and selling of organic amendments (compost) and they are private firms named as integrated bio-farm enterprise (IBE) and Soil & More. The former is domestic compost producing firm located in Addis and the later one is foreign company from The Netherlands. IBE is found in Addis Ababa and its compost producing site is located 6km away from the municipality waste dumping site. It is engage in the waste recycling by converting waste materials into useable composts. IBE employs conventional heap method of compost producing technique with composting cycle lasting three months. The compost is packed in plastic bags labeled as bio-compost along with nutrient contents, amount in kg etc. in both English and Amharic languages. The IBE produced 265.8 mt of compost from 534 mt of soil urban wastes and sold as packed and unpacked bio-compost in 2006. From the sale of biocompost the enterprise earned a net profit of US$ 36, 752 (www.ruaf.org ).

Soil & Mores is Daughter Company of Rhea Holding B.V. pvt. Ltd. is located in Ziway and it has already producing high quality environmentally friendly compost using the green waste of roses from the nearby flower producing greenhouse. The company uses high tech compost producing techniques (Windrow method) and produces compost within 8-10 weeks. By far this company produces high quality compost and it is an excellent opportunity to Ethiopia for technology transfer on modern way of compost production. The customers for soil & More are the rose farms themselves and the small-holder famers around Ziway, The rose farms are already buying the compost from the company but famers didn’t start buying the compost thus, currently the company suffers from lack of sufficient market for its products. Thus, concerned government stakeholders at all levels need to encourage the company by creation of market for its products through promotion of compost product through various pathways including field demonstration the effect of the compost product on the growth and yield of crops to farmers, professionals, policy makers and all other relevant stakeholders.

However, given the huge potential for production of organic fertilizer from large amount of organic wastes generated from diverse sources every day which otherwise continuously polluting the environment on one hand and the depletion of nutrients in the soils of rural lands that need to 16

be urgently replenished to sustain its productivity on other, the existing private firms engaged in commercial production of organic fertilizers (compost) currently can be considered few to none. Thus, there is a need to attract more and more organization private and/or public to involve in commercial production of compost from organic solid wastes. This in turn requires creation of market, availing site for compost production, provision of some relevant incentives, availing encouraging policy environment etc. All these can only be achieved through genuine and dedicated collaboration and partnership of all relevant stakeholders (private, GOs, NGOs, public sector organizations, municipalities etc.)

4.2. Publication focusing on soil organic amendments in Ethiopia A total of thirty five publications focusing on various aspects of soil organic amendments have been identified and the details of these publications are shown in Appendix Table 2. These publications are categorized into five publication categories and the numbers of publications in

Number

of pubications in each category

each category are presented in Fig. 3. 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Publication category

Figure 3. Types of publication on organic amendments in Ethiopia and the number of publication in each publication type.

Published Journals articles focusing on soil organic amendments including compost account for nearly 50 % of all publications followed by proceedings, books, theses and presentations in that 17

order. It is interesting that in this survey no manual publication on the how to prepare and use compost and other organic amendments has been encountered except one manual which was published by Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in cooperation with SLM and GIZ (MOA, 2014). 4.3. Inventory of organic soil amendments by agro-ecology

The location or regions of Ethiopia where research on soil organic amendments were conducted, the corresponding agroecologies, types of organic amendments tested and indicators assessed during the evaluation of the trials are summarized in Table 1. Accordingly, information on organic amendments has been obtained in eight locations and these locations are found in five a agroecologies (Fig 4.). Table 1. Location and the corresponding agroecologies in which information on the types of soil organic amendments tested. Location/region name

Agro-ecology

Type/name of soil organic amendment

Harargie

Tepid to cool Arid mid highland Tepid to cool arid midhighland

Compost made of Chat residues

Tigray

Addis Ababa Wolega Woliata DebreZeit Chencha HagereSelam Ziway

Tepid to cool moist mid-highland Tepid cool sub-moist mid-highland Tepid cool sub-moist mid-highland Tepid cool sub-moist mid-highland Cold to very cold humid mid-highland Cold to very cold humid mid-highland Hot to warm arid lowland

Vermi-compost

Type of indicator used to quantify the impact of organic amendment Chemical composition data

Compost made of crop residues -Conventional Compost made of -Urban solid waste Vermi-compost

-Chemical composition data -Crop response data -Soil chemical indicator data Crop response data Chemical composition data (Compost quality data) Crop response data

Biomass transfer of E. brucie

Crop response data

Farm yard manure (FYM)

Crop response data

FYM

Crop response data

FYM

Crop response data

Modern Windrow method produced compost from rose waste Compost made of Parthnium (Parthinium hysterophorus)

-Chemical composition data, (compost quality data) -Crop response data -Chemical composition data (compost quality data)

18

Ethiopian is divided into eighteen different agroecologies and the distributions of these agroeologies are shown in Fig. 4. Thus, the information on organic amendments represents only 27.7 % of agroecologies in Ethiopia suggesting that still a lot remains to be done to get comprehensive information on the availability and potential of organic amendments for sustainable crop production and maintain soil quality in many more angroecologies.

Soil organic amendments belonging to five groups were identified. These are: 1. Conventionally produced compost from urban solid wastes, chat residues, crop residues and parthinium weed, 2. Compost produced by the help of earth worms (verimi-compost), 3. compost produced by modern windrow techniques from rose wastes. 4. Farm yard manure (FYM) and 5.Green biomass of Erythrina brucie (Table 1).

Figure 4. Agroecology Map of Ethiopia.

19

4.4. Quality characteristics of OSA

Table 3 compares the chemical compositions of compost produced by different methods. Vermicompost was found to be quality OSA due to its higher nitrogen and phosphorus content than the remaining other compost types. Nursery compost is the lowest quality compost shown in Table 3. However, these data are presented to show how composts produced by different methods can vary widely in chemical composition only and it is not to say that Vermi-compost are of superior quality always than other type of compost.

Table 2. Effect of composting method on compost quality. Types of composts Farmer’s compost Garden compost Nursery compost Vermi-compost

pH 8.3 7.47 7.53 7.5

OC (%) 9.7 10.7 5.0 10.6

TN (%) 0.8 0.87 0.41 0.87

Total P (mg/kg) 146.6 153.3 113.8 159.6

4.5. Review of Organic amendments on the yield of crops in Ethiopia

The result of Meta analysis of data on the effects of organic amendments across crops and locations are presented in Fig. 5. The result showed that soil organic amendments (compost, green biomass, farm yard manure and Vermi-compost) produced significantly higher yield of crops relative to the control. Soil organic amendments increased the yield of crops by more than 94 % relative to that produced in untreated control plots. However, yield produced by OSA and that fertilizers were statistically at par with each other. But treatment involving integrated application of fertilizers and OSA produced the highest yield of crops than that produced either by OSA or fertilizer treatment (Fig. 5).

20

Mean Yield of Crops (t/ha)

25

a

20

b b

15

10

c

5 0 Control

OSA

Fertilizer

Fertilizer + OSA

Treatments

Figure 5. Effect of soil organic amendments (OSA) on the yield of crops across crops and locations in Ethiopia

Edwards (2006) studied the effects of compost and fertilizer on the yields of seven crops grown in thirty fields in Tigray through 2001-2005 and reported that grain and straw yields of all crops in all fields treated with compost were higher than in control (check ) fields (Table 2.). Similarly, fertilizer application produced higher yield than that produce in the check treatments. *Table 3. Average yields for seven crops in Tigray, 2001-2005 (Edwards, 2006). Crop type

Faba bean Barley Wheat (Durum Tef Maize Hanfest (mixture of Barley and Durum wheat) Finger millet

Check (no input) Grain straw 1544 7199 1661 6927 1313 6464 1179 7384 1843 13545 858 6706 898

4177

Average yield (kg/ha) compost Chemical fertilizer Grain Straw Grain Straw 3535 13998 2696 11350 3535 13670 1832 8269 2374 10740 1760 8453 2791 12193 1774 11096 2401 17840 3013 14363 3895 10187 1199 6712 2496

12148

1297

6665

*Data in Table 2 and Figure 6 were presented separately from those in Figure 5 due to the fact that the information in these table and figures were synthesized from data collected from many locations, several crops and years.

21

The author analyzed the overall yield response data in Table 2 and yield response data obtained in 2006; and the result is shown in Fig. 6. Accordingly, compost increased the grain yield of crops by 110 and 43 % over the control and fertilizer treatments. In addition to higher yield, there is also higher profitability with compost than with fertilizers (Minale et al., 2010).

Straw Yield

Grain Yield

16000

Average Yield ( kg/ha)

14000

2550

12000

1783

10000 8000

1208 12375

6000

4000

9231 6987

2000 0 Control

Compost

Fertilizer

Treatments

*Figure 6. Average yields for grain and straw for all crop samples in Tigray (2001-2006), Adapted from Edwards (2006)

There is no wonder that organic soil amendments (OSA) such as compost produced higher yield of crops because they are the sources of multiple nutrients required by plants or crops for their growth and developments. Thus, if they are properly applied in nutrient depleted soils definitely they will appreciably increase the yield of crops. Organic fertilizers are relatively cheap, technically easy to apply and accessible to all famers irrespective of their financial capacities (Wassie and Abebe, 2013). In addition to being the sources of multiple nutrients to the growing crop, OSA or organic fertilizers serve as a source of soil organic matter (SOM) which is a key for maintaining soil quality and sustainable productivity of the soil. SOM increases the water holding capacity of the soil, increase CEC, serves as a food to soil microorganisms, improves aeration, decrease soil erosion, increases the fertilizer use efficiencies of inorganic fertilizers etc. (Vanlauwe et al, 2005; Gruhn et al., 2000). 22

FYM treated

Untreated Check

Fertilizer + FYM

Figure 7. Barley crop grown with different treatments at HagerSelam, Southern Ethiopia.

Figure 7 above presents picture comparing the effect of FYM treated barley (left), barely grown without any input and fertilizer + FYM treated barley (right) crop grown on acidic soils of HagreSelam, Southern Ethiopia in 2007 (Wassie and Shiferaw, 2009).

4.6. Effect of soil amendments on Soil quality

The effects of soil organic soil amendments (OSA) on soil quality based on soil quality indicators viz. soil pH, OC and available avP contents of the soil are shown in Fig. 8. Accordingly, SOA (compost, FYM, Vermi-compost etc.) resulted in high soil pH compared to control and fertilizer treated soils. Similarly, OSA increased the soil OC and avP contents of soil relative to the control and fertilizer treatment. OSA increased the OC content of the soil by 23 and 11 % over the control and fertilizer treatments respectively. The corresponding increases in avP were 38 and 4 % over the control and fertilizer treatments respectively (Fig. 8). The results suggest that soil organic amendments, in addition to increasing crop productivity, they are also important in improving soil quality and sustainability.

23

pH

OC (%)

AVP (mg/kg)

14.0

Amouunt

12.0

10.0 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0

0.0 Control

OSA

Fertilizer

Fertilizer + OSA

Treatments

Figure 8. Effect of different soil treatments on soil quality indicators.

4.7. Effect of Soil organic amendments on carbon sequestration There is only little information available on the effects of OSA on carbon sequestration. The notable report in this line was that of the work of Mulugeta et al. (2011) where he compared the effects of compost on soil carbon stock along with untreated check (control) and that of fertilizer treatments for three years at Arsi Negelle, Ethiopia. They found that compost treatment resulted in carbon sequestration by 0.15 and 0.25 t/ha in the year one and year two respectively as compared to the initial soil C stock whereas there was a loss of carbon by 0.0027 t/ha in the first year and 0.06 t/ha in the second year (Fig. 9).

24

Figure 9. Effect of different treatments on soil organic carbon content of soils during two subsequent years in ArsiNegelle, Ethiopia (Mulugeta et al., 2011).

4.8. Review of drivers and inhibitors of organic amendments (Compost) in Ethiopia

The use of organic amendments such as farm yard manure (FYM) to improve soil fertility is an age old practice or it is a practice as old as agriculture itself. Thus, there is no lack of knowledge and skill among traditional farming communities in Ethiopia in using FYM to fertilize their soils. This implies that there is no barrier to the adoption of FYM. Instead the major problem with FYM is its shortage or limited availability due to completive use of FYM for various purposes as well as due to decreasing land size for animal feed production.

But when it comes to OSA such as compost, even if there are several advantages with it, it is not widely adopted by famers in Ethiopia. The most widely recognized and the general barriers to the adoption of compost includes that compost production requires some kind of skills and knowledge on methods of compost production techniques which most famers are lacking it, it has high labor demand, in some places there is shortage of materials for compost preparations, it

25

has offending foul smell that occur during compost tuning and some farmers complain that volatile acids and gases released during turning of composts causes a variety of health problems.

However, the specific barriers to adoption of compost and extent of adoption of compost production and uses vary from location to locations (Kassie et al., 2010) due to variation in agroecology, climate, socioeconomic condition, level of training and extension service provided to famers etc. For instance Kassie et al. (2010) studied the determinants of adoption of compost in semi-arid Tigray region of Ethiopia and reported both plot level and socioeconomic characteristics are important in adoption decision. According to the authors’ young people, households that have access to extension service (aware), availability of sufficient labor in the household, being literate and having enough livestock positively impact the adoption of compost in the study area.

5. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS Decline in soil fertility is one of the major challenges to crop production and productivity in Ethiopia. High intensity of soil erosion, continuous cultivation, inadequate application of inorganic and organic fertilizers, abandoning of tradition soil fertility restoration methods such as crop rotation, fallowing and shifting cultivation are some of the major causes of soil fertility decline in the country. In general, crop production system in Ethiopia is based on nutrient mining approach aggravating the depletion of soil nutrient reserve. This argument is substantiated by the finding of Stoorvogel and Smaling (1990) who reported that on the average 41, 6 and 26 kg ha-1 per year of N, P, and K are removed from Ethiopian soils respectively, and this nutrient depletion rate is by far the highest compared to that reported for sub-Saharan Africa except that of Malawi and Rwanda. While the soil nutrients are continuously being mined in rural agricultural lands in SSA including Ethiopia, they are increasingly being accumulated around and in urban and preurban areas as liquid and solid wastes.

26

This is especially the case with Ethiopia that with unprecedented increase in pre-urban and urban population in Ethiopia, there is increasing concern that a large amount of organic solid wastes which are rich sources of plant nutrients are generated and damped in the land fill sites at the outskirts of cities which otherwise should have been recycled back to fertilize the rural soils. Moreover, with increase in the number of agro industries in Ethiopia such as flower farms, a lot of organic wastes are generated every day which are also containing a large amount of plant essential nutrients. Thus, if solid wastes generated by different sources continue to be handled in the future in the same way as they are being handled currently, they will cause environmental, economic and social problems. On the other hand, the increasing cost and other problems associated with commercial fertilizers are limiting the indiscriminate uses of these inputs to replenish nutrients lost from rural farming land through various pathways. This will ultimately deplete the soil nutrient reserve in rural area which in turn will severely decrease agricultural production and productivity.

Thus, there is a need to devise a strategy that properly handle and dispose solid wastes generated by diverse sources in Ethiopia. At this point, it is crucial to note that organic solid wastes are problem posing materials if we leave them as they are. Otherwise, they are highly invaluable materials which can be converted to different useful products. The immediate useful product that can be obtained from solid waste is the production of organic fertilizers in the form of compost. Organic fertilizers produced from such organic solid wastes can be used to fertilize soil in rural area and/or can be used as an input in urban agriculture. The question is how can it be done? Who should do the task of producing compost from organic waste?, Who should deliver the compost to the users etc?. These questions are very relevant because nutrient cycling from organic waste or compost production requires manpower, financial resources, some facilities etc. This shows that the job can be performed neither by government and NGOs on permanent basis. Thus, the best way or strategy for addressing the problem is to make solid waste recycling/compost production a business activity. By this it means that private enterprise, individuals or public organization or any interested body can produce organic fertilizer from solid wastes from different sources and sell it to the users. With this strategy, there will be several opportunities such as it creates employment opportunities, serve as source of income, decrease or avoid pollution of the environment resulting from accumulated waste materials and avail organic fertilizer to improve soil fertility as alternative or supplementary to inorganic fertilizers. Moreover, the most important aspect of this strategy is that the business can be permanent and sustainable due to the fact that large amounts of organic solid 27

wastes are being generated from major cities in Ethiopia and some agro industries every day which can be converted into high valuable organic fertilizers through composting techniques. So there won’t be shortage of feed stocks for those enterprises involved in compost production and selling business. Moreover, there is increasing trend of urban agricultural activities so that those individuals involved in this activity could be customers to compost produced from urban solid wastes. Similarly, rural famers if made aware can be excellent buyers of organic fertilizers of compost produced from urban and pre-urban area and even nutrient cycling from different feed stocks including crop residues in the rural areas can be made business activity. However, this can be achieved through awareness creation; involvement of stakeholders, creation of fertile conditions for those interested in organic fertilizer production and marketing.

To this end, the fertile ground initiative (FGI) which is operational in three countries in Africa including Ethiopia has devised a strategy on ways of converting organic fertilizer into business. FGI itself is a strategy for coordination of collaboration among actors in nutrient management at various spatial scales so that geographic areas of high nutrient accumulation will be linked to areas of high nutrient depletion which ultimately enable to redistribute and balance of nutrients between the extremes. The strategy consists of eight components viz. 1.Demand assessment (Famers’ need assessment), 2.Product formulation and processing (supply arrangement), 3.Brokerage (matching demand with supply side) 4. Calculating real nutrient demand, 5.Marketing (business case design, trade and transportation), 6.Capacity building,7.Institutional arrangements and 8.Creating an enabling environment (policy environment). As part of this strategy and goal, FGI sought comprehensive background information on soil fertility intervention in Ethiopia. Thus, to obtain the required information, a study was conducted in 2015/16 with the following objectives: 1. To make inventory of institutions engaged in activities involving soil organic amendments and identify specific tasks with which they are engaged with. 2. To obtain an overview of the result of different soil intervention with a focus on compost ‘ application in Ethiopia. 3. To oversee the effectiveness of different soil intervention on soil fertility ,organic matter and nutrient status under different agro ecological condition and farming systems. 4. To assess drivers and inhibitors for using compost in Ethiopia.

Information was collected through questionnaire, direct search of publication in libraries of relevant institution, Google search engine and through personal communication. The D-base of publications was 28

created and relevant data from the publications were selected and meta- analyses of data on the effect of soil organic amendments on crop response indicators were analyzed using SAS software. Information on effects of soil organic amendments on soil quality indicators and soil carbon sequestration were also synthesized.

The results revealed that there are currently a total of fifteen institutions/organization engaged in various aspects of OSA and 53.3, 33.2 and 13.3 % of them were belong to government organization, nongovernmental organization and private enterprise respectively. The different activities being done on OSA by these institutions was categorized into five different groups namely research, extension, policy, knowledge management (training, publication etc.) and production. These categories of jobs on OSA account for 35.3, 17.6, 11.8, 23.5 and 11.8 % of the total activities respectively. The result showed that the commercial production of OSA (compost) is done by only two organizations in the country despite the huge potential for such business in Ethiopia. However, it should be considered as a good and encouraging start as it will inspire other in the future to involve in this sector.

A total of thirty nine publications focusing on OSA were identified and documented. The publications were belonging to books (12.8%), theses (10.2 %), presentations (7.7%), proceedings (20.5%) and Journals (48.7%). The existing information on OSA was based on works done in five agroecologies of Ethiopia which represents only 27 % of major eighteen agroecologies found in the country. SOA such as compost are being produced from diverse types of feed stocks which include Chat reside, urban solid waste, crop residue, solid wastes from agro industries (rose waste), farm yard manure, weeds (Example, Parthenium, notorious exotic evasive weed) and green biomass of indigenous trees (Example, Erythrina species biomass). Four different compost preparation methods were identified which were: Traditional/ famers’ method, conventional method, vermin-composting and windrow method of compost production.

The result of meta analysis of data on the effect of OSA on the yields of crops revealed that OSA increased the yield of crops by more 100 % over the control and it was able to produce yield equal to or higher than crop yields produced with inorganic fertilizers suggesting that it can replace fertilizers as cheap and sustainable source of nutrients for crop production in Ethiopia. However, the analysis further revealed that the highest crop yield was achieved with integrated application of OSA and fertilizers indicating synergistic interaction between the two fertilizers. Moreover, it was found that OSA treated soils had higher quantities of soil quality indicators ( pH, OC, TN etc.) than those treated with fertilizers and untreated check indicating that OSA are also important to improve soil quality and sustainability. 29

OSA (Example, compost) treated soils have been shown to sequester higher amount of carbon in the soil than those treated with fertilizer or check suggesting the contribution of OSA to mitigate climate change impacts.

Major gaps identified related to the production and uses of OSA

Even if there are a good start in the production and uses of OSA in Ethiopia as organic fertilizer, as a source of income and an eco-friendly methods of replenishing soil fertility, a lot remains to be done to exploit the full potential of organic nutrient sources that are generated as a waste by diverse sources every day which are considered as troubling and polluting materials to the environments. In this respect, some key challenges /gaps on production and uses of OSA were identified and listed below:  Insufficient work on research and dissemination of information in different agro-ecologies of the country.  Lack of awareness among potential users of OSA  Insufficient training activities on the management and uses of OSA.  Among rural famers, illiteracy, insufficient extension service etc were found to be barriers to adoption of OSA.  No or insufficient link and collaboration among stakeholders on OSA.  Very few organizations involved in commercial production of OSA/compost.  Lack of national roadmap for commercial production and selling of OSA/compost.  Lack of institution for standardizing compost quality and certifying agent.

Recommendations

Thus, in order to effectively bridge these gaps and fully exploit the potential of diverse organic nutrient sources (urban and pre-urban solid wastes, wastes from agro-industries, crop residues etc.) as soil organic amendments/organic fertilizers through the use of fast and efficient nutrient cycling technologies the following key points are recommended:  More research on nutrient cycling methods (composting) of different feed stocks especially urban solid waste and wastes generated by agro-industries are needed.  Intensive training on nutrient cycling methods to famers is crucial.

30

 Awareness creation through various pathways including training, media, and field demonstration etc on the importance of OSA as alternative or supplementary means of increasing soil fertility and maintaining soil sustainability is recommended.  Comprehensive national road map for nutrient cycling and organic fertilizer production, marketing and use that will serve as a major guide for those stakeholders who are involving and will involve in the future is recommended.  Organic fertilizer quality control and certifying authority is recommended to be established.  Encouragement and incentive are needed to attract more and more private/public sector to involve in commercial production of OSA (compost) especially from urban and pre-urban organic solid wastes.  This in turn requires creation of markets for OSA (compost) which still needs to be done through awareness creation and promotion of organic fertilizers to relevant customers.  All of the above targets can only be achieved however when all stakeholders (private, GO, public, NGO, Academia etc.) come together and collaborate among each other contribute to ways and methods of conversion of diverse types of organic waste into useful and marketable products.  For this to be realized there is a need to establish national coordinating body.  There is a need to organize a national workshop where by papers on research findings, technological, innovations and experiences on OSA will be presented and shared among stakeholders; and publish proceeding of papers .

31

5. REFRENCE Abawi, G.S. and Widmer, T.L. 2000. Impact of soil health management practices on the soil borne pathogens, nematodes and root diseases of vegetable crops. Applied Soil Ecology 15: 37-47 Abegaz, Aseffa. 2005. Farm management in mixed crop-livestock systems in the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia. Wageningen University and Research Center, PhD Thesis Achieng JO, Ouma G, Odhiambo G,. Muyekho F. 2010. Effect of farmyard manure and inorganic fertilizers on maize production on Alfisols and Ultisols in Kakamega, Western Kenya. Agric. Biol. J. N. Am. 1(4):430-439. Amlinger F., Peyr S., Geszti J., Dreher P., Karlheinz W. and Nortcliff S. 2007. Beneficial effects of compost application on fertility and productivity of soils. Literature Study, Federal Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Austria, Retrieved from. www.umweltnet.at/filemanager/download/20558/ Amlinger F., Peyr S., Geszti J., Dreher P., Karlheinz W. and Nortcliff S. 2007. Beneficial effects of compost application on fertility and productivity of soils. Literature Study, Federal ministry for Agriculture and Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Austria, Retrieved from. www.umweltnet.at/filemanager/download/20558/ Araya, H. and Edwards, S. 2006. The Tigray experience: A success story in sustainable agriculture. Environment and Development Series 4, Third World Network, Penang. Available online at http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/end/ed04.htm Badiane O, Delgado C.L. 1995. A 2020 vision for food, agriculture and the environment, Discussion Paper 4. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC. Bationo A, Hartemink A, Lumgu O, Naimi M, Okoth P, Smaling E, Thaiombiano L. 2006. African Soils: Their Productivity and Profitability of Fertilizer Use. Africa Fertilizer Summit. Abuja, Nigeria. Berhanu, T. and Getachew T. 2007. Solid Waste Recycling in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Making a business of waste management IBH. www.ruaf.org .

Bouajila K. and Sanaa M.,2011. Effects of organic amendments on soil physico-chemical and biological properties. J. Mater. Environ. Sci. 2 (S1) (2011) 485-490. www.jmaterenvironsci.com Channappagoudar, B.B., Biradar, N.R., Patil, J.B. and Gasimani, C.A.A. 2007. Utilization of weed biomass as an organic sources in sorghum. Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sci.20(2): 245-248 Cook, R.L., B. G. Ellis. 1987. Soil Management: A worldview of conservation and production. John Wiley & Sons. New York, Singapore. pp152-170 Dakora, F.D. and Keya, S.O. 1997. Contribution of legume nitrogen fixation to sustainable agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Soil Bio/. Biochem. 29(516): 809-817 Drechsel, P., Gyiele, L., Kunze, D. and Cofie, O. 2001. Analysis: Population density, soil nutrient depletion, and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Ecological Economics. 38: 251-258 Edwards S. and Hailu A. 2011. How to make compost and use: Climate Change and Food 32

Eghball, Bahman. 2001. Composting Manure and other organic residue. Cooperative Extension Publication (NebGuide), Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Lincoln Eichler-Lobermann, B., Kohne, S. and Koppen, D. 2007. Effect of organic, inorganic, and combined organic and inorganic P fertilization on plant P uptake and soil P pools. J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 170: 623-628 Elias, E. 2002. Farmers' perceptions of soil fertility change and management. ISD and SOSSahel International (UK). EDM Printing Press. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Erhart, E., Feichtinger, F. and Harti, W. 2007. Nitrogen leaching losses under crops fertilized with biowaste compost compared with mineral fertilization. J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 170:608-614 Eusuf, Z.A.K., Horiuchi, T. and Matsui, T. 2008. Effects of compost and green manure of pea and their combinations with chicken manure and rapeseed oil residue on soil fertility and nutrient uptake in wheat-rice cropping system. African Journal of Agricultural Research. 3(9): 633-639. Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJAR Fscher, D., and Glaser B., 2012. Synergisms between Compost and Biochar for Sustainable Soil Amelioration, Management of Organic Waste, Dr. Sunil Kumar (Ed.), ISBN: 978-95307-925-7. http://www.intechopen.com Gachene G.K.K., Kimaru, G. 2003. Soil fertility and land productivity, Nairobi, Kenya. 1:57-70. Gete Z., Getachew A., Dejene A. and Shahid R. 2010. A Report on Fertilizer and Soil Fertility Gruhn, P., F. Goletti, and M. Yudelman. 2000. Integrated Nutrient Management, Soil Fertility, and Sustainable Agriculture: Current Issues and Future Challenges. Food, Agriculture, and the Environment Discussion Paper 32, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D.C., U.S.A. pp 38. Gruhn P, Goletti F and Yudelman M (2000): Integrated Nutrient management, soil fertility and sustainable agriculture: Current issues and future challenges. IFPRI, Washington, D.C. Hagos, F., Pender, J. and Gebreslassie, N. 2002. Land degradation and strategies for ustainable land management in the Ethiopian Highlands, Tigray Region. Socioeconomics and Policy Research (Working Paper No. 25). ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya Haile W. 2012. Appraisal of Erythrina bruci as a source for soil nutrition on nitisols of South Ethiopia. Int. J. Agric. Biol., 14: 371–376. Harris, F.M.A.1998. Farm-level assessment of the nutrient balance in northern Nigeria.Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 71 (1-3): 201-214 Johnson, E. S. 1996. How does compost improve the Soil? Rot Web text (c): www.vegweb.com/composting/how-to.shtml Kassie, M., P. Zikhali, M. Kebede and S. Edwards. 2009. Adoption of organic farming techniques: Evidence from a Semi-Arid Region of Ethiopia. Environment for Development, Discussion paper Series, EFD, Addis Ababa. Katovich, J., Becker, R. and Doll, J. 2005. Weed seed survival in livestock systems. University of Minnesota Extension Services. Available online through http://www.manure.umn.edu/assets/WeedSeedSurvival.pdf Laird, D.A., D.A. Martens, and W.L. Kingery. 2001. Nature of Clay-Humic Complexes in an Agricultural Soil: I. Chemical, Biological, and Spectroscopic Analyses. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 65: 1413-1418 33

Lal R. 2009. Soils and food sufficiency. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 29, 113-133. Leonard D.1986. Soil, Crop, and Fertilizer Use: A Field Manual for Development Workers. Under contract with Peace Corps. 4th edition revised and expanded. United State Peace Corps. Information collection and exchange. Reprint R0008. Madeleine I., Peter S., Tim T. and Tom V. 2005. Agrodok no. 8: The preparation and use of compost. Agromisa Foundation, Wagenningen. Manyong, V.M., Makinde, K.O., Sanginga, N., Vanlauwe, B., and Diels, J. 2001. Fertilizer use and definition of farmer domains for impact-oriented research in the northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. 59: 129-141 McIntire J, Bourzat D, Pingali P. 1992. Crop-livestock interaction in sub-Saharan Africa: Washington D.C: The World Bank Minnich, J., and M. Hunt. 1979. The Rodale Guide to Composting. Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press. MOA. 2014. Training package on soil fertility management technologies technical manual. MAO, Addis Ababa. 89pp. MOARD (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), (2007): National fertilizer strategy and action plan of Ethiopia Mugwe, J., Mugendi, D., Kungu, J. and Mucheru-Muna, M. 2007. Effects of plant biomass, manure and inorganic fertilizer on maize yield in the Central Highlands of Kenya. African Crop Science Journal, 15(3): 111-126 Müller-Samman, K.M. and Kotschi, J. 1994. Sustaining growth: Soil fertility management in tropical smallholdings, Margraf-Verlag, Weikersheim, Germany Mulugeta, L. 2005. Expediting ecological restoration with the help of foster tree plantations in Ethiopia. Journal of the Drylands, 1(1): 72-84 Muse, jr., J.K. 1993. Inventory and evaluation of paper mill by-products for land application. Master thesis, Auburn University. Pp 9-13 Nyamangara, J., L.F. Bergstrom, M.I. Piha, and K.E. Giller. 2003. Fertilizer use efficiency and Nitrate Leaching in a Tropical Sandy Soil.J. Eniviron. Qual. 32:599-606 Onwonga, R. and Freyer, B. 2006. Impact of traditional farming practices on nutrient balances in smallholder farming systems of Nakuru District, Kenya. In: Proceeding of the Tropentag2006. Prosperity and poverty in a Globalized World - challenges for agricultural research, 11-13 October 2006. Bonn Paul M., 2003. Long-term effects of manure compost and mineral fertilizers on soil biological activity as related to soil structure and crop yield. In: Amlinger F., Nortcliff S., Weinfurtner K., Dreher P., 2003c. Applying Compost – Benefits and Needs, Proc. of a seminar 22 – 23 Nov. 2001, BMLFUW, European Commission, Vienna and Brussels. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/compost/seminar.htm Paulin B. and O`Malley P. 2008. Compost Production and Use in Horticulture. Western Australian Agriculture Authority, Bulletin 4746. www.agric.wa.gov.au Pender, J., Place, F., and Ehui, S. 1999. Strategies for sustainable agricultural development in the Eastern African Highlands. EPD Discussion Paper No. 4, IFPRI, Washington, USA Potential in Ethiopia: Constraints and opportunities for enhancing the system. IFPRI. www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/.../ethiopianagsectorwp_soil Roulac, J. 1996. Backyard composting. Green Earth Books, UK 34

Rynk, R., M. van de Kamp, G.B. Wilson, M.E. Singley, T.L. Richard, J.J. Kolega, F.R. Gouin, L. Laliberty, Jr., D. Kay, D.W. Murphy, H.A. J. Hoitink, and W.F. Brinton. 1992. Schoningh, E., and W. Wichmann. 1990. Organic manures – meeting expectations? Proceedings, FAO fertilizer conferences. April 1990.Rome Silva PSL, Silva J, Olivera FHT, Sousa AKF, Duda G.P .2006. Residual effect of cattle manure application on green ear yield and corn grain yield. Horticultura Brasileira. 24: 166-169. Smaling M, Nandwa A, Jansen M .1997. Replenishment of soil fertility in Africa. Soil Science Society of America special publication, 5151(1997): 47-61. Smiciklas, K.D., Walker, P.M. and Kelley, T.R. 2008. Evaluation of compost for use as a soil amendment in corn and soybean production. Compost Science and Utilization. 16(3): 183-191 Smith, J.L. and Elliott, L.F. 1990. Tillage and residue management effects on soil organic matter dynamics in semiarid regions. Adv Soil Sci 13: 69–87 Systems Resilience in Sub-Sarahan Africa. www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2230e/i2230e14 Taddesse, Y. and Abdissa, G. 1996. Effects of compost and NP fertilizers on growth and yield of maize and pepper. In: Proceedings of the Third Conference of Ethiopian Soil Science Society (ESSS). February 28-29, 1996, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tchale, T., P. Wobst And Frohberg, K. 2004. Soil Fertility Management Choice in the aizeBased Smallholder Farming System in Malawi. African Association of Agricultural Economists. Shaping the Future of African Agriculture for Development: The Role of Social Scientists. Proceedings of the Inaugural Symposium, 6-8 December 2004, Nairobi, Kenya. Tegene, B. 1998. Indigenous soil knowledge and fertility management practices of the Southern Wello Highlands. SINET: Ethiopia J. Sci., 31(1): 123-158 Termorshuizen A. J., van Rijn E. & Blok W.J. 2005. Phytosanitary risk assessment of composts. Compost Science & Utilization13, 108-115. Twarog, S. 2006. Organic agriculture: A trade and sustainable development opportunity for developing countries. In: UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review 2006. United Nations, New York and Geneva. Vanlauwe B, J. Diels, N. N. Sanginga N and R. Merckx.(2005. Long-term integrated soil fertility management in South-western Nigeria: Crop performance and impact on the soil fertility status. Plant and Soil 273: 337-354. Wakene N, G. Heluf and.K. Friesen.2005. Integrated Use of Farmyard Manure and NP fertilizers for Maize on Farmers’ Fields. J. Agric. Rural Dev. Trop. Subtropics 106(2):131-141. Wassie H and A. Abebe .2013. Potential of Erythrina brucei, Erythrina abyssinica and Ensete venticosum as organic sources of n p k on small holder fields in southern Ethiopia. Working paper No. 4 UNU-INRA, Accra. Wassie, H. and B. Shiferaw.2009.Mitigation of soil acidity and fertility decline challenges for sustainable livelihood improvement: Evidence from southern Region of Ethiopia. Pp. 131- 143. In: Atlaw A., Saba Y., Alemu M. and Minale K.(eds.). Proceedings of the national Conference on Sustainable Land Management and Poverty Alleviation, Coorganized by Environmental Economics Policy Forum for Ethiopia at Ethiopian Development Research Institute, Sustainable Land Use Forum (SLUF), Oromia Agricultural Research Institute (ORARI) and College of Agriculture at Hawassa University, Addis Ababa, December, 2009. www.sari.gov.org 35

World Bank .2007. Ethiopia: Accelerating equitable growth country economic memorandum. Part II Thematic Chapters - Report No. 38662-ET. World Bank Africa Region Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, Washington DC Yohannes, G. 1999. The use, maintenance and development of soil and water conservation measures by small-scale farming households in different agro-climatic zones of northern Shewa and Southern Wello, Ethiopia. SCRP Research Report 44. Centre for Development and Environment, University of Berne, Switzerland Zibilske, L.M. 1987. Dynamics of nitrogen and carbon in soil during paper mill sludge decomposition. Soil Sci. J. 143: 26-33

36

6. ANNEXES Annex 1. Format for collection necessary information from institute/organization conducting research on soil organic amendments will be interviewed. Name research Institution--------------------------------- Governmental ----NGO ------Private----Code----------------------------------------------Year of establishment-------------------------------Address-----------------------Region---------------------------Zone---------------------------------Woreda---------------------------------Kebele-----------------------------------P. O Box----------------------------Tele.------------------------------E-mail:------------------------------Position of organic fertilizer research in the administrative structure of the institute------------------------------------Research activities being conducted currently-----------------------------------------------Are there published resources on organic amendments in the institute? Yes------------------- No--------------------------If available Detailed inventory of these resources will be made using format in Annex Table 1.

37

Appendix Table 1. List of organizations in Ethiopia with stake on organic soil amendments, their major tasks on OSA and addresses. No.

Organization type Name of Organization

Private

NGO

Major programs/functions of the organization with respect to OSA GO

Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research Ethiopian Environmental Authority Haramaya University



4

Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture



5

Integrated Biofarm Enterprise

6

Institute Sustainable of Development (ISD)

7

Soil & More, HoAREC - Ziway

8 9

Farm Africa Mekele University

10

1 2

3



Policy

Research

Extension

Productio n

x

Knowledge dissemination/Training x

x



x x

x

x

x

x

x



x x

Adama University



x

11

Jimma University



x

12

GIZ-Ethiopia



13 14

Cascape Agriprofcus-Ethiopia

 

15

Ethiopian Society of Soil Science (ESSS)

P.O. Box 138, Dire- Dawa, Ethiopia E-mail: [email protected] Tel. 251-116460746. Fax 251-116460651. P.O.Box 62347, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Getachew Tikubet: Integrated Biofarm Enterprise, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. E-mail: [email protected] P.O.Box 171, Code 1110 Addis Ababa Tel. 251-116-186774 Fax: 215-116-186769 Hussen Ahmed, Soil & More, Ziway, Email: [email protected] tel: 0911523940

x





P. O. Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel.: +251 11-6-46-48-80 /46 09 80 Fax: +251 111243090, is Ababa, Ethiopia

 

Addresses

x

PO Box 5746. Addis Ababa P.O.Box: 231 Office Number A1: 110 Management Building Email: [email protected] Mekelle, Ethiopia P.O. Box: 1888, Ethiopia Tel.: +251-221-100-003. Fax: +251-221-100-038. eMail: [email protected] Tel : +251-(0)47-111-78-22 or +251-(0)471-11189-41 P.O.Box : 378. Jimma Ethiopia x

GIZ-Ethiopia | Kazanchis, Kirkos Sub City, Woreda 18 | Addis Ababa | | Tel: 00251-11-5180200 | Fax: 00251-11-5540764

x

Yelleke de Nooy, Facilitator Linking & Learning, Agri-ProFocus Ethiopia Gabon str- Meskel Flower Road, Tel: +251 (0) 11 467 1059, Mob: +251 (0)938483074 E-mail: [email protected]

x

P. O. Box 27482, Addis AbabaTel. : +25115151977, E-mail: [email protected]

x



38

Appendix Table 2. List/D-base of publications focusing on organic soil amendments in Ethiopia. Name of authors

Year

BOOKs (B) Title

Kassie, M., P. Zikhali, K. Menjure and S. Edwards

2010

P-B-02

Hailu, A.

P-B-03 P-B-04

Name of Publisher

City

No. Pages/Address

FAO

Addis Ababa

29pp.

2008

Adoption of organic farming techniques: evidence from a Semi-Arid Region of Ethiopia. Environment for development discussion Paper Series EfD DP 09-01 Compost preparation process

ISD

Adis Ababa

7pp. E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.isd.org.et

Sarah, A. and S. Edwards

2016

Soil Health Insights from the 2015 Ethiopian Soil Campaign

Addis Ababa

104pp.

2014

89pp.

2005

Training package on soil fertility management technologies technical manual Soil fertility management and biological soil conservation

Addis Ababa

P-B-05

Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) MOA

Institute of sustainable development (ISD) & Agriprofocus-Ethiopia MOA MOA

P-B-06

EPA

2004

Draft Guidelines on Composting (Policy guide)

EPA

http://agriwaterp edia.info/ Draft

8p.

Name of Authors

Year

Title

Name of Journal

Volume, pages

P-J-001

Tekeste, N., Dechassa, W. Kebede and L. Dessalegne

2013

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery

2 (5): 184-195

Science publishing Group

P-J-002

Teka, K. , T. Berihu, H. Amdu, T. Araya and S. Nigussie

2014

Characterization of soil nutrient management and post-harvest handling practices for onion production in the central rift valley region of Ethiopia Assessing Soil Nutrient Additions through Different Composting Techniques in Northern Ethiopia

Momona Ethiopian Journal of Science (MEJS)

6 (2): 110-126

CNCS, Mekelle University www.mu.edu.et/mejs/pdfs/v6n2/109713301354-1-PB.pdf

P-J-003

Nigatu, R., R.D. Sundaraa and B.B.Seboka

2011

J. Hum. Ecol.,

33(3): 179-190

Kamla-Raj

P-J-004

Mulu, T and L. Worku

2015

Ethiop. J. Health Sci.

15(2):157-165

Medical Society of Ethiopia

P-J-005

Wassie, H

2012

Int. J. Agric. Biol.,

14: 371–376

Friends in Science

P-J-006

Tenaw W., M.H.A. Husni A.R. Anuar and Z.A Rahman Wakene, N., G. Heluf and D.K. Friesen Desalegn, D.,S. Hameed, and L. Seyoum,

2006

Challenges and Opportunities in Municipal Solid Waste Management: The Case of Addis Ababa City, Central Ethiopia Analysis of the Type and amount of solid waste generated and adopted disposal methods by the residents of Bonga town Appraisal of Erythrina brucei as a source for soil nutrition on nitisols of South Ethiopia Effect of coffee residue and intercropping on soil physicochemical properties and yield of component crops in Southern Ethiopia Integrated Use of Farmyard Manure and NP fertilizers for Maize on Farmers’ Fields Evaluation of Composting and the Quality of Compost from the Source Separated Municipal Solid Waste

Ethiopian Journal of Natural Re sources

8 (2):199-216

Ethiopian Society of Soil Science (ESSS)

J. Agric. Rural Dev. Trop. Subtropics J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage

106 (2):131-141 16 (1) 5 - 10

JASEM

Rameshwar, H.Y. and A. Anteneh

2016

Manurial value of khat waste vermicompost from Awday,Harar town, Ethiopia

Int J Recycl Org Waste Agricult

5:105–111

CrossMark

Code P-B-01

Journals (J)

P-J-007 P-J-008 P-J-009

2005 2012

39

Appendix Table 2. Continued………….. P-J-01

Gezahegn, D., M. Seyoum and D. Jorge

2012

Vermi-composting as a sustainable practice to manage coffee husk, enset waste (Enset verticosum), khat waste (Catha edulis) and vegetable waste amended with cow dung using an epigeic earthworm Eisenia andrei Integration of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers: Effect on Vegetable Productivity Bioconversion of wastes (khat leaf left overs and eucalyptus twigs) into vermicompost and assessing its impact on potato yield. Evaluation of parthinium (Parthinium hysterophorus) composting using vermi at Adami Tulu agricultural research center, Ethiopia

Int J Pharm Tech Res

4:15–24

P-J-02

Teklu, E., K. Stahar and T. Getachew Mekonnen E and A. Argaw

2004

-

-

J Agron

14:37–42

P-J-04

Kasahun, K.H and G. Tesfaye

2014

Wudpecker Journal of Agricultural Research

3(7): 144 - 149

Wudpecker Journals

P-J-05

Daniel, M, L.M. Pant and D. Nigussie,

2008

Effect of integrated nutrient management on yield of potato and soil nutrient status at Bako, West Shoa.

Ethiopian Journal of Natural Resources

10: 85-101.

ESSS

P-J-06

Zerihun. A., J.J. Sharma, D. Nigussie and K.Fred K

2013

Afr J Agric Res

8 (29):3921– 3929

Academic Journals, www.academicjournals.org

P-J-07

Tadesse T., N. Dechassa , W. Bayu and S. Gebeyehu

2013

Am J Plant Sci

4:309–316

P-J-08

Edward, S., F.Ejigu and H. Araya Nigatu, R., R.D.Sundaraa, and B. S. Bizunesh Bogale

2012

The effect of integrated organic and inorganic fertilizer rates on performances of soybean and maize component crops of a soybean/maize mixture at Bako Effects of farmyard manure and inorganic fertilizer application on soil physico-chemical properties and nutrient balance in rain-fed lowland rice ecosystem Bioslurry as an organic input for improved agricultural production

Ecology and Farming

15-17

Challenges and Opportunities in Municipal Solid Waste Management: The Case of Addis Ababa City, Central Ethiopia

J Hum Ecol,

33(3): 179-190

P-J-03

P-J-09

2015

2011

www.tropentag.de/2004/abstr acts/full/20.pdf

Kamla-Raj

40

Appendix Table 2. continued…..

Proceedings (PRO) P-PRO-01

Wakene N., N. Kefyalew D.R. Frriesen, J. Ransom and Y. Abebe Getachew, A.

2001

Determination of optimum farmyard manure and NP fertilizers for maize on farmers’ fields.

Seventh Eastern and Southern Africa regional maize conference

Pp. 387393

2009

Ameliorating effects of organic and inorganic fertilizers on crop productivity and soil properties on reddish- brown soils.

pp. 127150.

ESSS

P-PRO-3

Wassie, H, B. Shiferaw and K. Kena

2009

Integrated Soil Fertility Management Options for ustainable Crop Production: Review of Research Findings from Southern Regional State of Ethiopia..

Proceeding of the 10th Conference of the Ethiopian Society of Soil Science. 25-27 March 2009, held at EIAR, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Proceedings of the 10th conference of the ESSS, 25-27 March 2009, EIAR, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Pp. 163175

ESSS

P-PRO-04

Wassie, H. and B. shiferaw

2009

Mitigation of soil acidity and fertility decline challenges for sustainable livelihood improvement: Evidence from southern Region of Ethiopia.

Pp. 131143

EEPFE, EDRI, SLUF

P-PRO-05

Abay, A., H. Wassie and B. Shiferaw

2011

Pp.108-117

ESSS

P-PRO-06

Abebe, Y. and B. Diriba

2003

Effect of integrated nutrient management on the yield of barely and soil properties at freeze, Guragie Zone in SNNPR.. In: M. Limenih, G. Agegnehu and T. Amede (eds.)Soils for sustainable development. Effect of biomass transfer of Cajanus cajan with or without inorganic fertilizer on BH-600 hybrid variety at Bako, Western Oromia.

Proceedings of the national Conference on Sustainable Land Management and Poverty Alleviation, Co-organized by Environmental Economics Policy Forum for Ethiopia at Ethiopian Development Research Institute, Sustainable Land Use Forum (SLUF) Proceedings of the 12th ESSS conference, March 17-18, 2011, Addis Ababa Proceedings of the 6th ESSS Conference, Feb 28- March 1, 2002, ESSS, Addis Ababa.

pp. 45-50.

ESSS

P-PRO-07

Mulugeta L., E. Karltun and M. Tolera

2011

Crop yield and soil Organic Matter Effects of four years of soil management Intervention in Arsi Negelle, South-central Ethiopia

PP. 97-107.

ESSS

P-PRO-08

UNDEP

2010

Training workshop on integrated solid waste management (ISWM) based on 3R

Proceedings of the 12th conference of ESSS, March 1718, 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Proceeding, 22-24 Feb. 2010, Addis Ababa

12pp.

http://www.unep.or. jp/ietc/spc/

P-PRO-02

41

Appendix Table 2. Continued..

Thesis (TH) P-TH-01

Regassa, K.

2005

P-TH-02

Getinet, H.B

2008

P-TH-03

Getinet, A

2015

P-TH-04

Mola, H.

2016

P-PR-01

S. Edwards

P-PR-02

Waltenigus, W.

2015

P-PR-03

Tessema

2010

Effects of Integrated Use of Decomposed Coffee Husk and Inorganic N and P Fertilizers on Yield and Yield Related Parameters of Sorghum on Nitisols of Jimma Area. Thesis Submitted to School of Graduate Studies, Alemaya University of Agriculture Evaluation of on-farm composting and compost quality at Ilala Gojo Welmera Woreda, Oromiya region Effect of Integrated Application of Compost and Chemical Fertilizer on Growth and Yield of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Under Irrigation at Melkassa,Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia Nutrient release pattern from leptic cambisols of enda-mehoni woreda and wheat (Triticum aestivuml.)nutrient uptake as influenced by vermicompost and chemical fertilizer levels

MSc thesis

63pp.

Haramya University

MSC thesis

81pp.

MSc thesis

79pp

Addis Ababa University Hawassa University

MSc thesis

Hawassa University

Presentations (PR) The Impact of Compost Use on Crop Yields in Tigray, Ethiopia

Sustainable Solid Waste Management Composting of local organic waste and Urban Agriculture practice Overview of Addis Ababa city solid waste management system

ISD harep.org/Agriculture/ ards.pdf

www.un.org/esa/dsd /susdevtopics/sdt_p dfs/meetings2010/

P= Publication type, J = Journal, PRO= Proceedings, PR= Presentations, TH-Theses

42

Appendix Table 3. Summary of the impacts of organic soil amendments on soil quality and crop responsesNB. Publication Code

Treatments

pH

Soil chemical indicators OC (%) TN (%) AVP (mg/kg)

Crop response Indicators Yield (t/ha)

P-J-002 *Farmers’ compost Garden compost Nursery compost Vermi-compost

8.3 7.47 7.53 7.5

9.7 10.7 5.0 10.6

0.8 0.87 0.41 0.87

146.6 153.3 113.8 159.6

-

Control Erythryna brucei green bimomass (EB) Fertilizer Fertilizer + EB

5.5 6.1 5.4 5.7

1.8 2.1 1.9 1.9

0.155 0.181 0.171 0.164

6.7 11.3 9.0 12

1.1 2.5 2.7 3.6

Control FYM Fertilizer Fertilizer +FYM

6.5 7.1 6.4 6.7

1.6 2.5 2.2 2.2

0.135 0.21 0.189 0.189

7.0 17 13 15

23.9 32.5 41.9 46.3

Conventional compost Conventional compost with pathinium **Parthinium compost

7.66 6.9 5.37

0.45 0.91 1.4

0.023 0.046 0.07

437 325 473

-

Control Vermi-compost (VC) Fertilizer Fertilizer + VC

-

-

-

-

6.1 22.4 25.5 29.6

Control FYM Fertilizers Fertilizer + FYM

-

-

-

-

7.0 9.4 9.6 10.2

Control Compost

-

-

-

-

1.51 2.6

control FYM Fertilizer Fertilizer+ FYM

-

-

-

-

6.3 16.4 30.9 41.9

Control FYM Fertilizer Fertilizer + FYM

5.5 6.5 5.3 5.7

2.08 2.44 2.18 2.32

0.17 0.21 0.18 0.20

3.2 4.74 5.63 5.11

12.7 16.6 22.4 25.7

Control Compost Fertilizer Fertilizer + Compost

7.20 7.34 7.28 7.21

0.81 1.24 1.13 1.3

0.082 0.12 0.12 0.13

17.4 21.7 21.7 22.1

1.2 3.3 3.2 3.6

-

-

0.074 0.20 0.17

9.8 31.2 29.1

-

P-J-005

P-J-02

P-J-03

P-J-05

P-J-06

P-J-08 -

P-PRO-04

P-PRO-05

P-TH-03

P-TH-04 Control Vermi-compost Fertilizer

*Data on compost composition, **Notorious weed introduced to Ethiopia along with food aid. NB: Source publication indicated in Appendix Table-3 are among those publications listed in D-base of Appendix Table 2 with information showing the effect of OSA on crop yield and soil quality. However, most of the rest of publication in Appendix Table 2 focus on other aspects of OSA

43