Abstract: Ethiopia is the center of origin and domestication for sorghum with a wide range of sorghum collections for various agro-ecologies. However, there are many factors that hinder the production and productivity of sorghum. Drought is one of the most important factors that affect crop production worldwide and continues to be a challenge to plant breeders, despite many decades of research. Understanding the genetic variability and trait association is key to the development of improved ...
Abstract: Drought is among the most important obstacles in agriculture that retard the production as well as productivity of the crops across the entire world. Since sorghum is highly produced from arid to semi-arid tropics, it is one of the staple and strategic crops for farmers. However, there are a number of constraints that reduces production and productivity of sorghum in the country. Stay greenness resulting in higher grain per mass yield and lodging resistance to boost sorghum grain y...
Abstract: Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the tuber crops produced in Ethiopia, mainly at mid and highlands of Ethiopia, due to the absence of potato varieties adaptable to lowland areas of the country. The country has large arable land in lowland areas, Thus, developing varieties adaptable to these areas is important. this research was conducted to estimate the effect of genotype x environment interaction (GEI) on morpho-agronomic traits and determine yield stability of potato genot...
Abstract: Mung bean is one of the most important legume crops. It serves as a source of protein for poor farmers in drought-prone areas of Ethiopia. It is used as a source of food and insurance crops during the drought season. Mung bean is adaptable to a wide range of climatic conditions. Despite adaptation and importance in moisture-stressed areas, its productivity is generally low due to a lack of suitable and drought-tolerant varieties. Moreover, the crop has got limited research attentio...
Abstract: It is imperative to study the level of genetic variability available in the existing groundnut genotypes due to the fact that, the aim of groundnut breeding programs across the world is to develop new varieties that meet the needs of growers, processors, consumers, and overall market demands. The present study was carried out to assess the extent of genetic variability among groundnut genotypes for agro-morphological and quality traits and to estimate association of traits and dete...
Abstract: Bread wheat is one of the most important cereal crop produced in almost all agro-ecologies of Ethiopia. Assessment of genetic variability in crop species is one of the major activities of plant breeding which helps to design breeding methods of genotypes for further evaluation to meet the diversified goals.Therefore the field experiment was conducted to estimategenetic variability, association of traits, determining their direct and indirect effecton grain yield and to identify pri...
Abstract The productivity of sorghum in Kenya is on decline despite sorghum being one of the suitable crops for the arid and semi-arid areas commonly found in Kenya. The study therefore aimed at establishing the effect of the selected socio-economic factors on sorghum productivity using a case of small-scale farmers in Siaya County. The four sub-counties considered for this study were selected on the basis of sorghum production. Stratified and random sampling techniques were applied to ident...
Abstract Seasonal rainfall variability, particularly the uncertainty with respect to the direction and extent that variability will assume in a given season, forms the greatest source of risk to crop production in semi-arid areas of Ethiopia. Equipping vulnerable communities, in advance, with the expected date of onset of a cropping season, is crucial for smallholder farmers to better prepare to respond and manage the uncertainties. Therefore, rainfall prediction, particularly development of...
Abstract Soil fertility decline is a major constraint to groundnut production in Uganda. Whereas options exist to address this constraint, many have not been adopted by smallholder farmers. This study was designed to demonstrate the profitability of different integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) technologies in light of smallholder farmer conditions. On-farm experiments were set up in Mbale, Tororo and Bukedea districts of Uganda, with different inorganic fertilizer and farmyard manur...
Abstract: Cactus pear [(Opuntia ficus-indica (L.)MILL] is a horticultural crop which is extensively used as food for humans and feed for animals in many countries of the world. The plant has widely adapted to different parts of Ethiopia and is an integral part of the culture and economy of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Although, Cactus pear can be sexually and asexually propagated, propagation has its own limitation such as genetic segregation, a long juvenile stage, and slow growth, material r...
Abstract Aims: Low and declining levels of crop and livestock productivities in the Kenyan agriculture have been attributed to the low application of the key farm inputs. Measures to encourage application of farm inputs with the highest effect on farm output in a given agro-ecological zone (AEZs) have been hampered by lack of adequate and reliable research-based information to guide the choices. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the elasticity of farm output for some selected farm in...
Abstract This paper is based on the results of a study that was carried out to determine the impact of agro-ecological zones (AEZs) on the influence of the key factors that affect household food security through a case study in the Embu County of Kenya. The Embu County was chosen for a case study because it is endowed with most of the various types of AEZs found in Kenya. The three agro-ecological zones covered in the case study were the Sunflower-Zone (UM 4 and LM 3), the Coffee Zone (UM 1-...
Abstract: Shallot (Allium cepa var. ascalonicum Backer) is one of the most important and widely used vegetable crops propagated vegetatively in Ethiopia. The yield of bulbs and seed are often constrained with low and imbalanced nutrient supply in the soil mainly nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and potassium. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted at Haramaya and Dire Dawa research stations of Haramaya University to assess the effect of NPS and potash fertilizers on seed yield and quality o...
Abstract: Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is one of the most widely cultivated and globally traded tropical and subtropical fruit trees in the world. It is one of the most popular, widely cultivated and commonly consumed fruit in Ethiopia. However, the postharvest loss of mango is high in Ethiopia in general and in Harari regional state, eastern Ethiopia in particular. Identified ecotypes with better quality for growers as well as for consumers are not available in Harari region, eastern Ethiopi...
Abstract Land fragmentation is a common agricultural phenomenon in many countries where a single large farm is subdivided into a large number of separate small land plots. This paper is based on a study that was carried out to evaluate the impact of land fragmentation on food security in three agroecological zones (AEZs) of Embu County in Kenya from January to November 2016. The study used data collected from 384 farm-households that were randomly selected from three AEZs in the Embu County,...