Evaluation of Micro-dosing Lime Application on Selected Soil Chemical Properties and Barley Crop Performance at Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Liming acidic soil on smallholder farms is one of the major challenges to enhance crop yields in Ethiopian highlands. To address the problem associated with the high cost of liming, a precision technique referred to as lime micro-dosing, which involves application in small and affordable quantities of lime was evaluated on acid soil of the central highlands of Ethiopia from 2019/20 to 2020/21. The objective was to evaluate the effects of lime micro-dosing on selected soil physicochemical properties and yield and yield components of barley on farmers’ field in suko and sika districts. The treatments consisted of 5 lime rates of (T1) 0%, (T2) 6.25%, (T3) 12.5%, (T4) 25%, and (T5) 33.3% of the recommended lime rate. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 3 replications. The result showed that application of lime significantly (P<0.01) affected selected soil chemical properties and yield and yield components of barley. Soil pH was significantly increased from 5.0 to 5.8 and available P from 9.0 to 14.53 mg kg<sup>-1</sup>. Exchangeable acidity decreased from 1.5 to 0.90 Cmol<sub> (+) </sub>kg<sup>-1</sup> due to lime application. Significant higher grain yield of barley was obtained from application of 25 and 33.3 % of recommended lime. Grain yield was increased by 100.5 and 110.2 % through application of 25 and 33.3 % of the LR of soils. Thus, application of 25 and 33.3 % of the LRs acid soils on spot at planting was found to be agronomically efficient and economically viable management option for barley production in the central highlands of Ethiopia.