Depleting of soil fertility, inappropriate and imbalanced fertilizer application including different blended fertilizers are among the most important factors that reduce the productivity of onion. Therefore, the study was conducted to evaluate the blended fertilizer type effect on improving the productivity of onion in Bena Tsemay District, Southwestern Ethiopia. The study was conducted in the 2018 and 2019 cropping season and laid out in RCBD following three replications with spacing of 10cm and 20cm between plants and rows respectively. Control, (38N + 46P2O5) kg ha-1, (182NPS+125Urea) kg ha-1, (191NPSB+125Urea) kg ha-1 and (204NPSZnB+125Urea) kg ha-1 treatments were used for the experiment. The full dose of blended and P fertilizers was applied at planting time and urea was applied in two splits. The result was revealed that application of 191 kg ha-1 NPS+125 kg ha-1 Urea resulted in the highest total (30590.28 kg ha-1) and marketable (28079 kg ha-1) bulb yield, while the lowest total (18043.98 kg ha-1) and marketable (15278 kg ha-1) bulb yield were recorded from the nil. Moreover, the highest net benefits of 425585.8 ETB ha-1 and economic returns of 1119.76% were obtained in response to the application of 191 kg ha-1NPSB+125 kg ha-1 Urea. Application of 191 kg ha-1NPSB + 125 kg ha-1 Urea gives 45.59% yield increment and 43.46% increment in economic return over the control. Therefore, the application of 191 kg ha-1 NPSB+125 kg ha-1Urea was recommended for the study area and similar agro-ecologies. Further investigation should be done on plant nutrient uptake and nutrient use efficiency and bulb chemical composition.
blended fertilizer, economic return, productivity, soil fertility
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