Straw dry matter yield and quality of finger millet intercropped with selected vetch species at different seeding ratios in western Oromia, Ethiopia

This study was conducted to evaluate the straw dry matter yield and quality of finger millet intercropped with three species of vetch (Vicia sativa, Viciavillosa and Vicia atropurpurea) at different seeding ratios in western Oromia, Ethiopia. The experimental design was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) arranged factorially in three replications. The treatment consisted of three vetch species and three seeding ratios (25:75, 50:50 and 75:25% finger millet: vetch respectively) and one pure stand of each as a control. The dry matter yield (DMY) of finger millet straw was different (P < 0.05) for the tested treatment combinations and the highest DMY of finger millet straw (5.85 t ha(−1)) was obtained from T10. The crude protein yield of finger millet straw was also influenced by the main effect and interaction effects of species and seeding ratio (P < 0.05). According to this study, T10 gave the highest (0.50 t ha(−1)) crude protein yield of finger millet straw. In general, vetch intercropping with finger millet has improved overall dry matter yield and quality of the intercrops. Thus, T10 was found to be the best treatment tested in terms of dry matter yield and quality to be used in a food/feed production strategy in a mixed crop-livestock production system to alleviate food/feed shortages in Bako and similar agro-ecologies.