Effect of Animal Manure Application Rates on Soil Moisture Conservation at, Somali Regional State, Ethiopia

The Ethiopian economy is mainly agrarian. It employs 85% of the population and contributes 45% of the gross domestic product and 90% of the national export earnings but agriculture in Ethiopia is dominated by rainfed farming with low productivity specially dry land part of the country like Somali region. As a result, crops have severe moisture stress through their growth stages. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted at Somali region of sandy clay loam soil in the year 2012/13 to assess the effectiveness of different manure applications rate, enhancing soil moisture and thereby productivity. The experiment was arranged in a random complete block design RCBD with three replications; and three rates-of- manure applications 0 tons/ha, 3 tons/ha and 6 tons/ha having a total of nine treatments plot were tested. The analysis of variance for the results of the study indicated that the significant differences were observed in soil bulk density, porosity and available moisture content due to different levels of animal manure applications. Soil moisture content at different soil depths at an interval of 15 days also showed a significant difference due to animal manure. The maximum (35.67%) average soil moisture content was recorded due to 6 tons of manure as compared to the moisture content recorded from without manure (31.10%). Therefore, 6 tons of animal manure may be recommended to reduce the risk of moisture stress and to fetch a good yield in the study area. The application of manure results to high soil infiltration rate and it could be important approach for dry land farmers.