Land Preparation Methods and Sowing Dates on Vertisol

Vertisols are among the major high potential soils in Ethiopia that they occupy 12.7 million hectars, but their productivity is constrained by severe water logging. As such, the soils have been marginalized for several years. But due to rapid population growth and expansion of farm lands, there is high demand for agricultural land. Studies have been conducted to generate technologies that improve the productivity of the soil. As a complement to the efforts, a field work was conducted in 2010 at Wolaita Zone, southern Ethiopia to evaluate the effect of land preparation methods and sowing dates on yield and yield components of chickpea. Three land preparation methods, broad bed and furrows (BBF), ridge and furrows (RF) and flat seedbeds (FB); and two sowing dates (August 16 and September 3, 2010) were evaluated. With this, the book has come up with new alternative solution to solve problem related to water logging and sowing time on a vertisol. Therefore, places elsewhere in the world which have similar soil properties, climate and topography can utilize methods and timing system mentioned in this book.