Evaluation of Different Agricultural Limes for Bread Wheat and Fababean Production in Acid Soil of West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

The application of lime is believed to enhance soil health status through improving soil pH, base saturation and reduces Al and Mn toxicities. Liming effects depend on the source, composition, purity and fineness of the lime. The performance of three liming materials and one control treatment was evaluated in a field trial, further evaluation and validation was done at three districts on different farmers’ sites during 2023 main cropping season. The liming materials included calcitic lime, hydrated lime, and quick lime. The treatments laid out in randomized complete block design. The results of the study showed that all tested lime materials (calcitic lime, hydrated lime, and quick lime) improved yield and agronomic performance of wheat, barley and fababean in comparably. This implies that hydrated limes can serve as an alternative agricultural lime to ameliorate soil acidity. Hence, these liming materials can be used as agricultural lime material and the result is confirmed through validation across locations on different testing crops (wheat, barley and Faba bean). So, it is recommended that liming materials which can be easily accessed for the farmers is recommended because of there is no significant difference among liming material tested.