ADAPTATION STUDY OF IMPROVED FODDER TREE (SESBANIA SESBAN (L.) MERRIL) AT HARO SABU, KELEM WOLLEGA, OROMIA, ETHIOPIA

The experiment was conducted at Haro Sabu Agricultural Research Center, Western Oromia for two consecutive years, with the objective to identify adaptive, high yielding and disease/pest resistance varieties. Seven varieties were grown as experimental treatments in a randomized complete block design (RBCD) with three replications. Analysis revealed that DZ-96 and DZ-123 had maximum percentage of survival rate at one year age 0092 and 0347completely died obtained from in one and two years age. Days of 50% flowering showed statistically highly significant and Mean performance of plant height trait at different ages and seed yield were also significant (p<0.05). Mean green forage yield and Dry matter yield was not significantly (p<0.05) among treatments. But numerically difference was observed among treatments. Maximum fresh weight and sun-dried dry matter yield (DMY) were 84.43 t ha-1 & 27.64 t ha-1 recorded from DZ96 followed by DZ-89 and DZ-123 with 18.91 & 18.36 ton ha-1 of sun dried DMY respectively. The best average seed yielders among the tested varieties were recorded from DZ-96 with 47.25 q ha1 followed by DZ-89 with 46.84 q ha-1. It is concluded that DZ96 and DZ89 were better performance varieties which are suitable for use as animal feeds.


Introduction
Ethiopia is an agriculture based country where the majority of the population engage in subsistence level crop and livestock production (Nigussie, 2012), that is, mixed crop-livestock farming systems. Leguminous multi-purpose tree species provide a very important high-quality protein supplement for the crop residues and natural grassland which form the bulk of animal feed in sub-Saharan Africa. They have the added advantage of fixing nitrogen through their symbiotic Http://www.granthaalayah.com ©International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH [213] relationship with Rhizobium, which can have considerable impact on soil fertility for the production of subsequent crops.
Among the multi-purpose tree species which have been the subject of research for use as animal feeds, Sesbania sesban has been found to provide a high-quality leaf material, which is of an equal quality to vetch hay when fed to small ruminants (ILCA, 1988). This species is indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa and is widely distributed throughout the region.
Fodder trees and shrubs offer considerable potential for use in mixed crop-livestock production systems to alleviate and complement the low feeding value of crop residues and natural pastures that constrain livestock production in sub-Saharan Africa (Devendra, 1992;Gutteridge and Shelton, 1994;Mekoya, 2008). Animals with access to fodder trees performed better than those kept on natural pasture in milk yield, weight gain, reproductive performances and survival rates (Elbasha et al., 1999; Mohamed-Saleem and de Leeuw, 1994;Norton, 1994). The effect of fodder trees can often be attributed to the supplementation of Nitrogen (N) to the diet.
It is since 1970s that different exotic multipurpose fodder trees like Sesbania sesban got promoted by different organizations in Ethiopia to alleviate feed shortages (Mekoya et al., 2009b), maintain soil fertility and prevent land degradation. Sesbania is relatively well suited for highland areas when compared to other EMPFT such as Gliricidia, Calliandra and Leucaena . In a survey conducted in Ethiopia (Mekoya, unpublished) it was observed that 30 out of 32 governmental and non-governmental organizations engaged in agricultural development activities were promoting various accessions of Sesbania. S. sesban grows all over the subtropics in a wide variety of soils, and is one of the few nitrogen fixing forage trees that can grow in cooler highland regions in the tropics. S. sesban can tolerate soil alkalinity and salinity to a considerable degree. Sesbania grows at altitude of between 100-2300m where the average annual temperature is between 18-23°C, and does not go below 10°C or above 45°C where the average annual rainfall is between 500-2000mm. Development of improved forages to improve livestock productivity is crucial. Livestock are an important part of the farming system of Kelem and West Wollega zone and one of the bottlenecks of livestock production is seasonality in quality and quantity of forage. Despite these positive attributes, livestock farmers in the study area are mainly dependent on grazing lands and crop residues and very little or no attention is given for improved forage species including fodder trees. Therefore, the study was undertaken the objective to identify and evaluate better adaptable, herbage and seed yield performance of some Sesbania sesban varieties.

Description of the Study Area
The study was conducted on station at Haro sabu agricultural research center at latitude of 8 o 52'51" N and longitude 35 o 13'18'' E and altitude of 1515 m above sea level a plot of 4m x 3m during 2008 and 2009 E.C. the center was located in western Ethiopia in Oromia region at 550 km from Finfine (Addis ababa). The average rain fall of the area is about 1000 mm and its distribution is uni-modal. Their maximum and minimum temperatures are 30 0 c and 14 0 c respectively with average of 22 0 c. The area is characterized by coffee based farming system and crop-livestock mixed farming system (HSARC, 2012). The soil type of the experimental site is reddish brown with sandy loam in texture.

Experimental Design and Plants
Seven varieties were grown as experimental treatments to see adaptability in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. A total of treatments like Dz-80, 0347, Dz-104, Dz-123, 0092, Dz-96 and Dz-89 were used.

Plantation of the Fodder Plants and Growth Evaluation
Plot size of each of the planted fodder plant was about 4m x 3m (12 m 2 ). Planting materials of sesbania sesban were obtained from Debrezeit agricultural Research center. They were planted at spacing 1m between rows and 50cm between plants. The plants were weeded by hand to control the weed. Recommended fertilizer rate of 100 kg/ha DAP were used during experimental period. The survival and growth of sesbania sesban varieties were attended for two years.

Data Collected
Data recorded were establishment date, survival rate, re generation percentage after pruning, disease/pest recorded, days of 50% flowering, plant height, seed yield and biomass yield (total fresh weight & dry matter (DM) yield).

Statistical Data Analysis
The data were subjected to statistical analysis of descriptive statistics and using SAS 9.1 computer software. Treatment means were compared using Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at 5% level of probability.

Percentage Germination and Survival
The experiment started with seven (7) sesbania sesban varieties having 24 number of plant per plot. Data regarding percentage of germination and plant survival rate at different age was presented (table 1).
The seven tested varieties of Sesbania sesban were fully germinated (100%). The survival rates were decline when the ages of plant was increase gradually and they were differences among varieties at 1 and 2 years age. At the ages of six months, all germinated plants were survived and they trends were similar to those shown for germination.

Plant Flowering and Growth (Height)
Sesbania sesban was perennial improved fodder trees can flower to set seed. Table 2 shows Days at 50% flowering of different sesbania sesban varieties tested at HSARC during adaptation periods was highly significance difference between treatment at (p<0.05). Some tested varieties flowered early at 3.8 months (0347 and 0092 after planting while others took 5.9 to 6.8 months to flower. The result shows that from seven different adapted varieties, 0347 and 0092 varieties took short days 116 and 119 days respectively where as the long days of flowering was recorded 206.3 days from DZ-123 variety.

Percentage of Plant Re-Growth
Twelve number of plant sample per plot was pruned at age of one year on 75 cm height above the ground to see re-growth. From the tested varieties two varieties were not completely re-growth or re generated (0%) because they are annual fodder tree type. Variety DZ-96 had maximum percentage of plant regenerated (83.3%) followed by DZ-80 and DZ-123 had 77.5%.

Forage Biomass (Green and dry matter) yield
Forages were harvested at 2 years old of plants and they collected from leaves and soft stems able to eat. Data regarding mean green forage yield (Fresh weight) and Dry matter yield was not significantly different between treatments at (p<0.05) and presented (table 4). But, numerically difference was observed among varieties in the present study except the two (0092 and 0347) varieties. The highest fresh weight (green forage yield) was recorded from DZ-96 of 84.43 tha -1 followed by DZ-123 of 59.44 tha -1 , while lower green forage yield (GFY) of 28.79 tha -1 was recorded from DZ-104. The fresh weight mean yield was 52.32 tha -1 .

Incidence of Insect Pest Resistance
In all Variety tested insect pest was seen during rainy season or months (April to August) and did not pose any serious problem. According data recorded shows variety DZ-96 and DZ-89 were moderately resistance than other varieties tested.

Conclusion and Recommendation
The performance of Sesbania sesban was tested under Haro Sabu midland climates of Kellem Wollega zone of Oromia regional state. From this study, it can be concluded that among the tested fodder tree (Sesbania sesban) varieties collected from Debrezeit Agricultural Research Center, DZ-96 and DZ-89 have greater performances in terms of their high forage herbage dry matter yield, seed yield and better agronomic parameters. Also they are suitable for use as animal feeds under the study area. As a result, to recommend that these two varieties were suitable at this area and better to popularize and demonstrate this technology reaches farmers and animal producers (end users) better to use for their livestock mix with poor quality (low protein content) as feed resources to enhance animal products.