Research Article

Soil Properties, Crop Yield, and Economic Return in Response to Lime Application on Acidic Nitisols of Southern Highlands of Ethiopia

Table 8

Marginal and partial budget analyses of different rates of lime application combined over 2 years on Nitisols in southern Ethiopia.

Lime rate (t·ha−1)
Control2.744.115.546.858.22

Average grain yield (kg·ha−1)333035604060433037603800
Adjusted grain yield (kg·ha−1)299032103650389033903420
Average straw yield (kg·ha−1)98002170021130276002235025360
Adjusted straw yield (kg·ha−1)882019530190200248402012022820
Gross benefit from grain89,791.596,219.9109,644.3116,847101,552.1102,650.2
Gross benefit from straw36,240.880,282.478,173.2102,09482,676.093,803.3
Total gross benefit (ha−1)126,032.2176,502.3187,817.5218,942.1184,228.1196,453.5
Field cost of lime (ha−1)11,234.016,851.022,468.028,085.033,702.0
Field cost of labor (ha)1,808.42,712.63,616.84,521.05,425.2
Total variable cost (birr/ha)13,042.419,563.626,084.832,606.039,127.2
Net benefit (birr/ha)126,032.2163,459.9168,253.9192,857.3151,622.1157,326.3
MRR1.743.874.77DD
MRR (%)174%387%477%

Dominated; 1USD = 47 Ethiopian birr at the time of the study. Price of barley grain = 30 birr kg−1; price of barley straw = 4.11 birr kg−1. The market price of lime = 4.5 birr kg−1; labor cost for spreading lime = 50 ETB per person-day.