Local agro-industrial by-products offer feasible options to supplement breeding rams in mixed farming systems of Ethiopia.

This study assessed the supplemental effect of flushing Menz breeding rams with local agro-industrial by-products on their reproductive performance and semen quality. In a completely randomized design, rams ( 49) with an initial weight of 25.69+2.

Assessment of genetic structure and trait associations of Watkins wheat landraces under Egyptian field conditions.

Background: Wheat landraces represent a reservoir of genetic diversity that can support wheat improvement through breeding. A core panel of 300 Watkins wheat landraces, as well as 16 non-Watkins landraces and elite wheat cultivars, was grown during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons at four Agricultural Research Stations in Egypt, Gemmiza, Nubaria, Sakha, and Sids, to evaluate the core panel for agromorphological and yield-related traits. The genetic population structure within these genotypes were assessed using 35,143 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

Beer, barley, livestock, milk: Who adopts agricultural innovations in rural Rajasthan?

Research conducted in developing countries in the past 50 years generally suggests that most agricultural innovations (whether technological, social, or financial in nature) end up reinforcing existing socio-economic hierarchies based on gender and class. Most of these findings are drawn from the Green Revolution, which focused overwhelmingly on high-yielding varieties of rice, maize, and wheat, along with the introduction or expansion of irrigation and extension services and the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Less is known about how agricultural innovations involving other crops or livestock, especially if introduced in tandem, perform in alleviating poverty or reducing gender inequality.

Investigating Genetic Diversity and Correlations Between Mineral Concentration and Neurotoxin (-ODAP) Content in the Genus.

Grass pea ( L.) is a nutritious legume crop well-adapted to fragile agro-ecosystems that can survive under challenging climatic conditions. The cultivation of grass pea faces stigma primarily due to the presence of --Oxalyl--, -diaminopropionic acid (-ODAP), which is associated with a risk of inducing neurolathyrism upon prolonged consumption of its grains as a staple diet.

Multi-dimensional impact assessment for priority setting of agricultural technologies: An application of TOPSIS for the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

The importance for multi-dimensional priority-setting of agricultural innovations is growing, given that agricultural technologies usually play multiple roles for smallholder farmers. This study assesses agricultural technologies based on their multi-dimensional impacts in the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The study applies the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to a set of promising agricultural technologies and uses three outcome criteria: the benefit-cost ratio, poverty reduction, and nutrition security.

History and genetic diversity of African sheep: Contrasting phenotypic and genomic diversity.

Domesticated sheep have adapted to contrasting and extreme environments and continue to play important roles in local community-based economies throughout Africa. Here we review the Neolithic migrations of thin-tailed sheep and the later introductions of fat-tailed sheep into eastern Africa. According to contemporary pictorial evidence, the latter occurred in Egypt not before the Ptolemaic period (305-25 BCE).

Assessing the proximate compositions of indigenous forage species in Yemen's pastoral rangelands.

Plant diversity in southern Yemen is crucial for maintaining rangeland ecosystem functions. This diversity contributes to the resilience of local pastoral communities, by providing essential forage and resources. However, high stocking density has led to the overuse of palatable species, resulting in increased competition for forage.

Response of maiden ewes to the 'ram effect' is a robust management practice and a candidate selection trait for enhanced reproductive performance in drylands.

Management of reproduction that relies on naturally based solutions is extremely important to counter the negative perception around hormone-based interventions. In Mediterranean latitudes and wider regions of non-tropical drylands, sheep do not normally ovulate during spring but exposure to a ram can induce oestrus and ovulation. This study assesses the response of maiden Barbarine ewes in drylands to the 'ram effect' during springtime and estimates the genetic parameters of this response.

Prediction of urban surface water quality scenarios using hybrid stacking ensembles machine learning model in Howrah Municipal Corporation, West Bengal.

In the pursuit of understanding surface water quality for sustainable urban management, we created a machine learning modeling framework that utilized Random Forest (RF), Cubist, Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGB), Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS), Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and their hybrid stacking ensemble RF (SE-RF), as well as stacking Cubist (SE-Cubist), to predict the distribution of water quality in the Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) area in West Bengal, India. Additionally, we employed the ReliefF and Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) methods to elucidate the underlying factors driving water quality. We first estimated the water quality index (WQI) to model seven water quality parameters: total hardness (TH), pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg).

Multivariate analysis of phenotypic diversity elite bread wheat (.) genotypes from ICARDA in Ethiopia.

Wheat is an important crop for food security, providing a source of protein and energy for the growing population in Ethiopia. However, both biotic and abiotic factors limit national wheat productivity. The availability of genetically diverse wheat genotypes is crucial for developing new wheat varieties that are both high-yielding and resilient to stress.

Prevalence of Fasciola hepatica infection in slaughtered sheep from Northwest Tunisia and its risk factors: Association with gastrointestinal helminths infection and anaemia.

We investigated herein the prevalence of Fasciola hepatica infection in sheep at Sejnane slaughterhouse, governorate of Bizerte, Northwest of Tunisia, using three different diagnostic techniques (liver dissection, bile examination, and coprology). Faeces, liver, gall bladder as well as blood samples were collected from 603 slaughtered sheep in two seasons: winter and summer. Faecal egg counts of F.

Genetic analysis of efficiency-related traits in Boer x Central Highland goats.

This study aimed to identify important non-genetic factors and estimate genetic parameters for efficiency-related traits in Boer x Central Highland goats. The genetic parameters were estimated using the Average Information Restricted Maximum Likelihood algorithm using the WOMBAT program fitting animal model. The least-squares means for growth efficiency from birth to 3 months (GE1), 3-6 months (GE2), 6-12 months (GE3), relative growth rate from birth to 3 months (RGR1), 3-6 months (RGR2) and 6-12 month (RGR3) were 294.

Association mapping of septoria tritici blotch resistance in bread wheat in Bale and Arsi highlands, Ethiopia.

Septoria tritici blotch (STB) caused by the fungal pathogen anamorph Rob. ex Desm., is an important wheat pathogen worldwide, reported to be major wheat production threating factor, posing considerable yield loss every year.

Dissection of the Genetic Basis of Genotype by Environment Interactions for Morphological Traits and Protein Content in Winter Wheat Panel Grown in Morocco and Spain.

To fulfill the growing demand for wheat consumption, it is important to focus on enhancement breeding strategies targeting key parameters such as yield, thousand kernel weight (TKW), quality characteristics including morphological traits, and protein content. These elements are key to the ongoing and future objectives of wheat breeding programs. Prioritizing these factors will effectively help meet the rising demand for wheat, especially given the challenges posed by unpredictable weather patterns.

Variability in Chromosome 1 of Select Moroccan f. Isolates Overcomes a Highly Effective Barley Chromosome 6H Source of Resistance.

Barley net form net blotch (NFNB) is a destructive foliar disease caused by f. Barley line CIho5791, which harbors the broadly effective chromosome 6H resistance gene , displays dominant resistance to f. .

Whole-genome resequencing reveals genomic variation and dynamics in Ethiopian indigenous goats.

Ethiopia has about 52 million indigenous goats with marked phenotypic variability, which is the outcome of natural and artificial selection. Here, we obtained whole-genome sequence data of three Ethiopian indigenous goat populations (Arab, Fellata, and Oromo) from northwestern Ethiopia and analyzed their genome-wide genetic diversity, population structure, and signatures of selection. We included genotype data from four other Ethiopian goat populations (Abergelle, Keffa, Gumuz, and Woyto-Guji) and goats from Asia; Europe; and eastern, southern, western, and northern Africa to investigate the genetic predisposition of the three Ethiopian populations and performed comparative genomic analysis.

Improvement of cool-season food legumes for adaptation to intercropping systems: breeding faba bean for intercropping with durum wheat as a case study.

Although the transition toward a more sustainable agricultural system is sparking the interest of scientists and farmers around the globe, breeding programs are still focusing on optimizing cultivars intended for the monoculture system, and most cultivars available on the market are not suitable for intercropping. The incorporation of versatile cool-season food legumes (CSFLs) in the intercropping system is a promising way toward more diversified and sustainable cropping systems. However, as the selection of good-performing cultivars under sole cropping does not always lead to a good performance in intercropping, the development of an alternative breeding scheme for intercropping is now a necessity.

Linking farmers' perceptions and management decision toward sustainable agroecological transition: evidence from rural Tunisia.

Global food systems face sustainability challenges like undernourishment, inequity, resource degradation, and pollution. Food production and consumption drive environmental change with greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, and land-system shifts. The climate change crisis has intensified concerns about the ecological impact of these systems.

Unveiling the Synergistic Effects of Phosphorus Fertilization and Organic Amendments on Red Pepper Growth, Productivity and Physio-Biochemical Response under Saline Water Irrigation and Climate-Arid Stresses.

In regions facing water scarcity and soil salinity, mitigating these abiotic stresses is paramount for sustaining crop production. This study aimed to unravel the synergistic effects of organic matter and phosphorus management in reducing the adverse effect of saline water for irrigation on red pepper ( L.) production, fruit quality, plant physiology, and stress tolerance indicators.