Impact of Christ's thorn and Mango Trees on Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) Yield in Parkland Agroforestry Practice at Harari Region, Ethiopia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55927/marcopolo.v3i11.192Keywords:
Parkland Agroforestry, Grain Yield, Biomass Yield, Canopy Cover, PruningAbstract
Understanding the nature of trees should provide an important step for improving the productivity of the components and designing agroforestry systems. The study was aimed to evaluate the impacts of parkland Christ's thorn and Mango trees species on the yield of sorghum within and outside the canopy of the tree in Harari Region Ethiopia. Accordingly, twelve trees (six for each) isolated and nearly similar Mango and Christ's thorn trees growing on more or less similar site conditions, management practices, canopy coverage and height were selected. Sorghum variety (bullo) which is dominantly grown around the study area was sown during rainy season along with existing both tree species in crop field. Three quadrates 1 m*1 m were laid out under, edge and outside the canopy of the trees in the sorghum farmland to assess the sorghum grain and biomass yield in parkland. The finding of the study also showed that the grain and biomass yield of sorghum were significantly (P<0.05) increased under canopy of Christ's thorn trees. Mango -sorghum interaction showed highly significant (p<0.01) reduction of sorghum biomass and grain yield under the tree canopy compared with open area. It can be concluded that the integration of trees particularly Mango with sorghum in parkland agroforestry should be promoted with effective tree crown management to reduce crop shading, particularly near the tree where the shading effect is high.
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