Effect of Organic Matter on Rice Nitrogen and Phosphorus Use Efficiency Under Calcareous Sodic Soil of Amibara District, Ethiopia

Wastes produced from sugarcane industries are organic in nature, and it augmented the soil properties as well as improves crop yield and quality. In 2016 field experiment was conducted to investigate effect of filter cake and bagasse for nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiency of upland rice grown on calcareous sodic soils of Amibara District. The result revealed that plant nutrient use efficiency indices agronomic efficiency, agrophysiological efficiency and apparent recovery efficiency of both nitrogen and phosphorus were significantly (P<0.05) affected by the application of filter cake and bagasse. The maximum nitrogen was recovered at 20 t ha-1 filter cake followed by combined application of 10 t ha-1 bagasse + 20 t ha-1 FC that gave 45.10 % from kg quantity of nitrogen uptake per unit of kg nutrient applied. But, the minimum nitrogen recovery efficiency was recorded at 20 t ha-1 bagasse + 20 t ha-1 filter cake. The Phosphorus apparent recovery efficiency ranged from 18.55- 32.91 %. The interaction of filter cake with bagasse also highly significantly (P < 0.01) affected rice grain yield. It can be encouraged to use these wastes with combination of inorganic chemical fertilizers under various cropping systems to enhance nutrient availability to plant under calcareous sodic soil.