Quality assessment and evaluation of irrigation water and soil used for maize ( L.) production in Boloso Sore district, southern Ethiopia.

Poor quality of irrigation water and soil are among the major factors determining maize productivity in Ethiopia. This study assessed and evaluated the quality of irrigation water and soil under maize production in Soke and Woybo irrigation schemes in Boloso Sore district, Ethiopia. Four water samples per site per season were collected from the first point of the irrigation schemes and farm gate for dry and rainy seasons in 2019/2020.

Effect of spatial arrangement of faba bean variety intercropping with maize on yield and yield components of the crops.

Efficient maize-faba bean intercropping system for optimum grain yield and productivity is needed in order to use the limited land and to enhance food security of the smallholder farmers. A field experiment was conducted at Haramaya, eastern Ethiopia during the 2018 and 2019 main cropping seasons to determine the effect of variety and spatial arrangement on a maize-faba bean intercropping system on yield components and yields of the component crops and the productivity of the system. The treatments consisted of the recommended 100% plant populations of maize (Baate) variety intercropped with 50% of the recommended density of four faba bean varieties (Yeferenji Baqela, Yehabesha Baqela, Batte and Gachena).

Effects of planting density and variety on productivity of maize-faba bean intercropping system.

Maize (Zea mays)-faba bean (Vicia faba) intercropping is a recent practice in eastern Ethiopia and there is limited information on optimum planting density and suitable varieties of faba bean for productive intercropping with maize. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted in eastern Ethiopia during the 2018 and 2019 main cropping seasons to determine the effects of variety and density of faba bean on the yield components of the crops and the productivity of the intercropping. Treatments consisted of three farmers' varieties (Yeferenji Baqela, Yehabesha Baqela, Batte) and one improved variety (Gachena)intercropped with maize in an additive design at three plant densities (25%, 50%, and 75% of their recommended sole crop density of 250,000 plants ha) and the recommended 100% plant density of sole faba bean and sole maize.

Farmers' perspectives on drivers of rice yield in the Fogera Plain of Ethiopia.

In Ethiopia, rice productivity varies over locations. However, there is limited understanding about rice yield drivers for design appropriate policies and strategies to enhance rice productivity. This study focuses on assessing the patterns of rice yield and its drivers.

Supplementary irrigation for managing the impact of terminal dry spells on the productivity of rainfed rice ( L.) in Fogera Plain, Ethiopia.

A terminal dry spell is one of the main limiting factors for rice productions. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the effect of supplemental irrigation for managing the impact of terminal dry spells on the productivity of different rice varieties grown under rainfed conditions in the Fogera Plain. The experiment was designed in a split-plot design with water regimes as main plot factors and rice varieties as a subplot factor with three replications.

Inter- and intraspecific diversity of food legumes among households and communities in Ethiopia.

Smallholders throughout sub-Saharan Africa produce legume crops as sources of food, fodder, and cash income, as well as to improve soil fertility. Ethiopian farmers have developed diverse legume varieties that enable adaptation to changing agroecological and sociocultural conditions. However, over the past several decades, as farm sizes declined and extension services promoted new varieties developed by plant breeders, changes in legume diversity have not been monitored.

Nutritional and chemical properties of fermented food of wild and cultivated genotypes of enset (Ensete ventricosum).

The multipurpose crop enset (Ensete ventricosum) has been traditionally cultivated in Ethiopia since ancient times. The main food product is the starch-rich fermented kocho made from the pseudostem and corm. There are many vegetatively propagated landraces utilised by farmers, but no concisions breeding have taken place, and there are requests for improved cultivars.