In order to evaluate the effects of cow dung manure and inorganic fertilizer on yield and quality of Walga oats (Avena Sativa L.) in Choman Guduru district, during the main cropping seasons, an experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The treatments involved a control and three levels of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur (NPS) fertilizer (50, 100, and 150 kg/ha) combined with cow dung manure (5, 10, and 15 ton/ha). Data collected for emergence and flowering, plant height, tiller number, leaf area, leaf number per plant, leaf to stem weight ratios, biomass yield, and quality traits: Dry Matter (DM%), Crude Fiber (CF%), Organic Matter (OM%), Crude Protein (CP%), Ether Extract (EE%), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF%), and Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF%). Data were analyzed using Genstat version 15. The highest emergency date (13.3 days) was measured in T0 (control). The application of the highest rate of inorganic and cow dung manure significantly (p<0.01) altered the green forage yield and quality attributes of oats. The highest biomass yield (80 t ha-1) was observed for the treatments with 100 kg seed ha-1 coupled with 150 kg NPS ha-1. Similarly, the highest (p<0.01) tillers number (7.4/plant), plant height (155 cm), leaves number (6.4/plant), leaf area per plant (131.67 cm2), dry matter yield (17.41 t ha-1), crude protein (7.42%), crude fiber (40.49%), and total ash (14.02%) were recorded for T3 (150 kg NPS). There were strong positive correlations between agronomic traits (p<0.01). Dry matter yield was positively correlated with DM, CP, OM, EE, and negatively correlated with CF, ADF, NDF, and Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL). Inorganic fertilizer application to cultivate oat forage improved the morphological characteristics with the highest net benefit; however, the use of a high dose of cow dung manure could be an alternative.
Asefa et al. (Fri,) studied this question.