A study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of in situ moisture conservation techniques and animal manure on improving productivity of sorghum in moisture-stressed areas. Two levels of in situ moisture conservation techniques (flatbed planting and tied-ridging) and three animal manure levels (0, 3, and 5 tons ha-1) were laid out in RCBD with three replications, and the result showed that the use of tied-ridging and animal manure increased sorghum grain yield by more than 34 and 51%, respectively, compared to the flatbed planting practice. Similarly, 68.86% biomass yield advantage was obtained from the interaction effect of tied-ridging and 5 tons ha-1 of animal manure, which however not significantly varied with 3 tons ha-1 of animal manure. Generally, the grain yield of sorghum showed a linear increase with increasing rate of animal manure, while the economic analysis showed that the application of 3 tons ha-1 of animal manure provided the highest marginal rate of return and was taken to be economically profitable. Thus, the application of 3 tons ha-1 of animal manure under tied-ridged conditions can be recommended in Raya Valley and other areas with similar agroecologies to sustain sorghum productivity in northern Ethiopia.

Keywords: Economic analysis, farmyard manure, flatbed planting, sorghum, tied-ridging, yield-related traits.