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Nutrient management research was conducted across locations to investigate the influence of landscape position (hill, mid-, and foot slope) in teff ( Eragrostis tef ) and wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) yield response to fertilizer application and liming in the 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons. The treatments included 1) NPS fertilizer as a control treatment (42 N + 10P + 4.2S kg ha -1 for teff and 65 N + 20P + 8.5S kg ha -1 for wheat); 2) NPS and potassium (73 N + 17P + 7.2S + 24 K kg ha -1 for teff and 103 N + 30P + 12.7S + 24 K kg ha -1 for wheat) and 3) NPSK and zinc (73 N + 17P + 7.2S + 24K + 5.3Zn kg ha -1 for teff and 103 N + 30P + 12.7S + 24K + 5,3Zn kg ha -1 for wheat) in acid soils with and without liming. Results showed that the highest teff and wheat grain yields of 1512 and 4252 kg ha -1 were obtained at the foot slope position, with the respective yield increments of 71% and 57% over the hillslope position. Yield response to fertilizer application significantly decreased with increasing slope owing to the decrease in soil organic carbon and soil water content and the increase in soil acidity. The application of lime with NPSK and NPSKZn fertilizer increased teff and wheat yields by 43-54% and 32-35%, respectively compared to the application of NPS fertilizer without liming where yield increments were associated with the application of N and P nutrients. Orthogonal contrasts revealed that landscape position, fertilizer application, and their interaction effects were significant on teff and wheat yields. Soil properties including soil pH, organic carbon, total N, and soil water content were increased down the slope, which might be attributed to sedimentation down the slope. However, available P is yet very low both in acidic and non-acidic soils. We conclude that crop response to applied nutrients could be enhanced by targeting nutrient management practices to agricultural landscape features and addressing other yield-limiting factors such as soil acidity and nutrient availability by conducting further research., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (© 2023 The Authors.)

Assessing the potential impacts of different land management practices helps to identify and implement sustainable watershed management measures. This study aims to assess a change in soil erosion rate under different land management practices in the Gilgel Abay watershed of the upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model that was adapted to the Ethiopian highlands context was employed to estimate the rate of soil erosion. The impact of land management practices on soil erosion was estimated for three scenarios, which were baseline, intensive cultivation, and extensive cultivation scenarios. At the baseline scenario, the mean annual soil erosion was estimated at ~32.8 t ha -1 yr -1 , which is equivalent to a loss of ~13.66 Mt yr -1 from the entire watershed. While the rate of soil erosion reduced to ~11.3 t ha -1 yr -1 during the implementation of intensive cultivation management practice, which reduced the total soil loss in the watershed by 65%. On the other hand, under the extensive cultivation scenario, the mean annual soil erosion rate increased to ~34.4 t ha -1 yr -1 . The findings suggest that implementing agricultural intensification management practices can significantly reduce soil erosion in the watershed., (© 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)