Impacts of soil and water conservation practices on finger millet production in northwestern Ethiopia

Abstract Crop yield decline, primarily caused by soil erosion, is a major challenge in rain‐fed agriculture. Massive soil and water conservation (SWC) practices are conducted each year in the country of Ethiopia, including the study sites, to tackle the problems, but there is not enough information about the impacts those practices on crop yields in the study area. The impacts of different soil conservation practices on finger millet yield ( Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) were evaluated on conserved and non‐conserved croplands during the 2021/2022 cropping season. The experimental fields were blocked based on slope classes to account for topographic variation. A total of 27 plots having 3.2 × 3 m size were established. The highest plant height (73.24 cm), biomass yield (2.50 t ha − 1 ), and grain yield (1.57 t ha − 1 ) were recorded from soil bunds stabilized with grass. The interaction of conservation practices and slope gradient positively influenced plant height, biomass, and grain yield. Biological soil conservation practices + foot slope yielded the highest plant height (79.71 cm), biomass (3.08 t ha − 1 ), and grain yield (1.57 t ha − 1 ). The result showed that there was a significant difference of millet yield and yield components in conserved and non‐conserved fields ( p < 0.05). This study implies that implementing suitable soil conservation techniques based on slope characteristics is the best solution to improve finger millet yield in northwestern Ethiopia. It is recommended that farmers adopt slope‐specific SWC measures, such as soil and grass‐stabilized bunds, to reduce erosion and improve soil fertility and finger millet yield.