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Crop susceptibility to moisture content, quality of storage facilities in the farm contributes to fungal infections and mycotoxin contamination. Chickpea grain loss in many parts of the world has been due to inadequate and poor storage facilities, post-harvest activities leading to mycotoxins and fungal infections. The current research investigated the prevalence of fungal infection and mycotoxin level in farm chickpea across five major growing districts in Ethiopia. In the current study, fungal infection and mycotoxin concentrations were investigated in two Desi and Kabuli type varieties of samples containing 150 chickpea kernels collected from five districts in Ethiopia. Additionally, moisture content, relative humidity, and temperature were also investigated during sampling. Moisture levels ranged from 13.3 - 22.3% with a mean value of 16.4% across the five districts. There was no significant difference between the two varieties studied. Survey of different storage techniques used by farmers showed that polypropylene bags were most common and accounted for 54.7%, followed by gotta 45.3%. The total fungal infection in chickpea kernels across the sampled districts range 23 - 79%. Infection with Aspergillus genera was predominant, accounting for approximately 44.3% of the total (25 - 62.5%), followed by Penicillium spp. at 34.3% (10.9 - 55.3%) and Fusarium spp. 21.4% (9.6 - 42.3%) as the lowest. A cross the studied districts, chickpea germination ranged from 68.8% to 75.5%. Total aflatoxins levels ranged from 2.5 to 31.1 ppb and a mean of 17.4 ppb. Ochratoxin A concentrations ranged from 4.3 to 35.0 ppb, with a mean value of 10.6 ppb. Fumonisins (18.7%), ranged from 0.2 to 2.9 ppm and Deoxynivalenol (6.7%) ranged from 0.2 to 2.9 ppm. Chickpea samples had a high level of total aflatoxins (ppb), followed by ochratoxin A. Even though, the current co-occurrence of mycotoxins found is at low levels, it may adversely affect the health of regular consumers and the quality of Chickpea. Further investigations should be performed in different regions to help in advising and making decisions to the relevant government institutions on the appropriate measures to be undertaken.

Realizing the nature and degree of association between yield and yield related traits under various environment and conditions is a pre-requisite in any crop improvement. A total of 200 durum wheat genotypes obtained from different sources were tested at Debre-Zeit, Chefe-Donsa and Minjar under optimum and low nitrogen in 2020 season. The objectives were to assess the relationship between grain yield and other important traits, and to determine relationships among the various traits and their direct and indirect effects on durum wheat grain yield under optimum and low nitrogen (N) conditions. The Phenotypic and genotypic association of grain yield with grain filling period, number of seed per spike, biomass yield, harvest index, normalized difference vegetative index, hectoliter weight, and chlorophyll contents were significant and positive under both optimum and low N conditions. Biomass yield, number of seed per spike, normalized difference vegetative index, harvest index, and hectoliter weight were direct contributors to grain yield under both N conditions. Thus, these traits can be used as the primary selection criteria for grain yield in durum wheat under optimum and low Nitrogen.

Due to war conditions, the local farmers had to largely rely on their own crop production, mainly by subsistence farming, in Tigray, North Ethiopia. We assessed the crop stands in 2021 and evaluated the level of resilience of the indigenous farming system. Quantitative data were collected from 161 farm parcels in various ecoregions of this tropical mountain region, in order to detect the share of sown land, crop types, and their status. This participatory monitoring was accompanied by semi-structured interviews. Farmers cultivated their farms late, left it uncultivated or marginally sowed oil crops as improved fallow (28%), due to lack of farming tools, oxen, fertilizer, seeds, or manpower. As compared to peace years, only few lands were sown with sorghum as there was active warfare in the sorghum planting period. The relatively good stands of wheat and barley (47%) are in line with the farmers’ priority given to cereals. Teff got a large land share because it could be sown up to the middle of the main rainy season and because farmers had consumed the seeds of their major cereal crops (wheat and barley) when hiding for warfare. Seeds left from consumption were only sown by late June, when troops had retreated, and the communities could revive. With almost no external support, the local farming system has proven to be remarkably resilient, relying on indigenous knowledge and local practices, block rotation, manure, improved fallow, changes in relative importance of crops, seed exchange, and support for one another. This is the first analysis of the socio-agronomic roots of the 2021–2022 Tigray hunger crisis, with a cereal harvest that could not at all sustain the local population as the planting season had been largely missed. The ability of the indigenous farming system to partially rebounce in times of autarky is another novel finding.

Sixteen cultivars (three resistant species and thirteen susceptible cultivars to cochineal insects) were included in the experiment to evaluate their nutritional and chemical compositions and to determine the in vitro digestibility of cladodes of the Opuntia species. Cultivars showed highly significant (p < 0.001) differences in their chemical composition. The cultivars’ content of ash, crude protein (CP), dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and Cell (cellulose) varied, with ranges of 8.18–22.75%, 3.19–10.40%, 86.40–91.88%, 77.45–91.82%, 68.25–87.3%, 55.81–78.95%, 14.88–26.15%, 29.66–67.05% and 10.99–19.92%, respectively. The ash content showed a significant highly negative correlation with OM (r = −1.00; p < 0.001), IVDMD (r = −0.603; p < 0.001) and DOMD (r = −0.904; p < 0.001), respectively. The Garao, Aloqa and O. robusta var. X11 cultivars showed the highest similarities, as they are found close to the first branch of the dendrogram. In total, 90% of the variation among the nutritional traits was attributed to the first four PCs, with 55.97% to the first two principal components (PCs). The nutritional composition of the resistant species was greater than or equal to the susceptible ones.

Cultural Effects on Sorghum Varieties Grown, Traits Preferred, and Seed Management Practices in Northern Ethiopia. Agrobiodiversity is fundamentally shaped by farmers’ preferences and management practices, and these are again shaped by the farmers’ social and cultural background. This study investigates variety preferences and seed management practices in the crop sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) among the Kunama and the Tigrayan ethnolinguistic groups living side by side in Northern Ethiopia. Surveys were conducted in 10 villages located in two districts inhabited by the two ethnolinguistic groups and analyzed using descriptive and multinominal analysis. We find important differences in varieties grown across the ethnolinguistic groups, but we also find that ethnicity and geographic proximity interact and affect trait preference and seed management practices. Altogether, 22 varieties are cultivated, and few farmers cultivated improved varieties, especially among the Kunama. Respondents considered use traits as important as agronomic traits when selecting sorghum varieties. Notably, preferred use traits were not limited to food (e.g., construction materials were important for the Kunama), and preferred agronomic traits were not focused on drought resistance. Timing of seed selection, seed selection criteria (e.g., panicle size and color), and seed storage practices differed among the ethnic groups. Understanding cultural and social preferences towards sorghum varieties, their traits, and the criteria used for seed management is crucial for the success of crop breeding programs, climate change adaptation policies, and development interventions.

Integrating varietal resistance with temperature manipulation during storage may provide a better option for protection of stored grains and may decrease reliance on the use of synthetic chemicals. The current study was conducted to determine the susceptibility of different varieties of wheat seed to the infestation by the granary weevil, Sitophilus granarius (L.), and rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.), at optimal (30 °C) and sub-optimal (19 °C) temperatures. Kernels of six wheat varieties namely, Danda'a, Digalu, ET-13-A2, Kakaba, Millennium, and Pavon-76 were examined over a period of 90 d. Significant interactions were detected between wheat varieties and storage temperature for progeny emergence, percentage of insect damaged kernels, grain weight loss, and amount of powder produced per gram of wheat. Kernels of Danda'a, infested with S. oryzae at 30 °C exhibited significantly lower mean progeny counts (13.3 live insects), lower percentage of grain weight loss (4.2%) and insect-damaged kernels (6.4%), and powder production (1.5 mg/g). Kernel weight and hardness index were negatively associated with percentage of insect damaged kernels and grain weight loss. Kernel diameter was positively associated with both of percentage of insect damaged kernels and grain weight loss. Wheat varieties with high Zeleny sedimentation values had lower percentage of insect-damaged kernels and grain weight loss. These results indicated that kernel weight, hardness index, and protein content are predominant factors contributing to wheat resistance against S. granarius and S. oryzae. The varieties Millennium and Danda'a can be considered with other integrated pest management approaches to reduce stored grain losses of wheat in Ethiopia.

The Tigray region of Ethiopia is characterized by its smallholder and resource-constrained higher proportion of women-headed households. Despite dealing with various problems, these women farmers are very innovative agriculturists for their livelihoods. In this chapter we describe the needs and successes of partnerships with women farmers of the region and women breeders of Mekelle University in breeding location-specific varieties of barley. The resource-poor farmers of Tigray face severe droughts and hence prefer to continue growing their highly adapted landraces over the released varieties that grow well under irrigated high-input situations. Breeding for location specificity is the major priority in barley breeding that can be addressed through participatory approaches in plant breeding. In participation with farmers, we used a decentralized and highly client-oriented approach that led to the release of the Himblil variety as farmer bred and three varieties in farmer-breeder partnerships. Participatory varietal selection (PVS) in barley revealed preferences of farmers and selection of locally adapted varieties. Surveys revealed high impacts of PVS in increasing adoption and field biodiversity. Scaling up of barley varieties following cooperative seed production, dissemination, and field adoption was achieved. Additionally, we discuss the innovative usage of barley grain in diverse food preparations and upgrading of women’s food value chains for transforming trade of products that women specialize in.

A thriving black-market economy of scam scholarly publishing, typically referred to as ‘predatory publishing,’ threatens the quality of scientific literature globally. The scammers publish research with minimal or no peer review and are motivated by article processing charges and not the advancement of scholarship. Authors involved in this scam are either duped or willingly taking advantage of the low rejection rates and quick publication process. Geographic analysis of the origin of predatory journal articles indicates that they predominantly come from developing countries. Consequently, most universities in developing countries operate blacklists of deceptive journals to deter faculty from submitting to predatory publishers. The present article discusses blacklisting and, conversely, whitelisting of legitimate journals as options of deterrence. Specifically, the article provides a critical evaluation of the two approaches by explaining how they work and comparing their pros and cons to inform a decision about which is the better deterrent.

Wheat is an important staple crop in arid and semi-arid areas of the Tigray region of Ethiopia. However, the yield and quality of the crop is markedly constrained by low soil fertility, inappropriate rate and timing of nitrogen application. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to elucidate the effect of different rates and timing of nitrogen fertilizer application on the yield, quality, and nitrogen use efficiency of bread wheat varieties during 2013 and 2014 main cropping seasons. The treatments consisted of four rates of nitrogen (23, 46, 69, and 92 kg N ha-1), three timing of N application (½ at sowing + ½ at tillering, ¼ at sowing + ½ at tillering + ¼ at anthesis, and 1/3rd at sowing + 1/3 rd at tillering + 1/3rd at anthesis) and two bread wheat varieties (Picaflor and Mekelle I) and 0 kg N ha-1 (control). The experiment was laid out as a randomized complete block design in a factorial arrangement with three replications. During both cropping years, increasing the rate of nitrogen application up to 69 kg N ha-1 significantly (P< 0.01) increased the total aboveground biomass and grain yields of the crop and decreased with further increase of applied N fertilizer. The highest aboveground biomass (6871 kg ha-1) and grain yields (2775 kg ha-1) of the crop were obtained in response to the application of 69 kg N ha-1, in 2013. The equivalent value for total aboveground biomass and grain yields during 2014 cropping season were (8815 kg ha-1and 3695 kg ha-1), respectively . The highest apparent recovery efficiency of 75% was obtained in response to the rate of 69 kg N ha-1applied in three splits of 1/4 at planting, ½ at tillering, and 1/4 at anthesis. The equivalent values for the highest apparent recovery was 81% in the 2014 cropping season. The highest agronomic efficiency of 25 kg kg-1 and utilization efficiency of 55 kg kg-1 were recorded at the rate of 46 kg N ha-1 in three splits of 1/4 at planting, ½ at tillering and ¼ at anthesis. The equivalent values in 2014 were 34 kg kg-1 and 78 kg kg-1, respectively. Grain protein concentration increased from 10.57% to 11.82% in 2013 and from 8.97% to 9.84% in 2014 cropping season as the rate increased from 23 kg N ha-1 to 69 kg N ha-1. The acceptable marginal rate of return (1618%) and highest net benefit (34141ETB ha-1) was obtained from 69 kg N ha-1 for the variety Picaflor. In conclusion, applying 69 kg N ha-1 in three splits of ¼ at planting, 1/2 at tillering and ¼ at anthesis resulted in optimum grain yield, protein concentration and economic return of the crop.

This training module aims to support the capacity building processes of professionals involved in the strengthening of SPCs in Ethiopia. By zooming in on elements related to seed quality control and assurance, it builds on the previous module’s focus on quality seed production. It is particularly aimed at executive members of SPCs, seed quality control committees, woreda experts, implementing partners, SPC farmers and SPC/PSP store workers.

This training module aims to support the capacity building processes of professionals involved in the strengthening of SPCs in Ethiopia. By zooming in on elements related to value addition, it builds on the previous module’s focus on seed quality control.

Seed production is a key component of a functional seed system and is expected to produce sufficient quantity seed of adequate quality within the nationally prescribed rules, regulations and standards. Successful agricultural work depends on improving the production and marketing of cereals, pulses, vegetables and cash crops, and thus raising income.

The experiment was conducted in Northern Ethiopia from 2011-2013 under rain fed conditions in a total of seven environments vis. E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E6 and E7. The objective of the study was to evaluate the adaptability and stability of sesame genotypes across environments. 13 sesame genotypes were evaluated and the experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The average grain yield of the genotypes was 742.9 Kg/ha with the outstanding genotypes being G4 (926.8 kg/ha), G1 (895.1 kg/ha) and G12 (832.7 kg/ha) respectively, and low the yielding genotype was G9 (614.3 kg/ha). The combined ANOVA for grain yield showed significant effects of the genotypes, environments and genotype x environment interaction. According to the additive main effect and multiplicative interaction bi-plot (AMMI bi-plot) and Genotype x Environment interaction bi-plot (GGE bi-plot) G12 was the most stable, and G7, G8 and G9 were the unstable genotypes. Furthermore, the Genotype main effects and GGE bi-plot showed E5 as the most discriminating and representative environment. The GGE bi-plot also identified two different growing environments, the first environment containing E4 and E6 (in the Dansha area) with the wining genotype G1; and the second environment encompassing E1, E2, E3, E5 and E7 (in the Humera, Dansha and Sheraro areas) with winning genotype of G4. Key words: AMMI bi-plot, environment, GEI, GGE bi-plot.

Land degradation is a serious global problem. To reclaim degraded land, many soil bunds have been implemented. However, their effectiveness has not been studied in all regions of Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of soil bunds integrated with tree fodder species on selected soil properties and carbon stock in semi-arid areas of northern Ethiopia. Twenty-seven composite soil samples were collected from 20 cm depth. The soil parameters texture, soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), available phosphorus (Av.P) and available potassium (Av.K) were analysed. Statistical analyses were performed using one-way ANOVA and mean comparisons were made using Tukey’s honestly significant difference test. Mean values of SOM (2.13%, 1.47% and 0.85%), CEC (150.42, 100.58 and 80.68 cmol kg−1 soil), TN (0.2, 0.14 and 0.08%), Av.P (7.08, 6.03 and 4.36 ppm), Av.K (1.52, 1.34 and 1.27 cmol kg−1 soil), soil carbon stock (SCS; 12.48, 10.47 and 4.7 t ha...

Introduction. Cordia africana Lam. is a tree that produces small fruits eaten in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa. The fresh fruit are sold in the market place in open bowls and, traditionally, the fruit is dried on the tree like dates. Materials and methods. Modern methods of processing the fruit were studied. Some of the changes in the nutrient content and chemistry of the fruit were measured using standard methods. Results and discussion. In the fresh fruit, the traditional method of handling collected 7.6 g dust kg −1 . The TP (total phenols measured with Folin Ciocalteu's reagent) contents varied significantly between the processing methods. Using a solar dryer, the fruit dried within 5 days while the on-tree drying process took 63 days. The taste of the fruit from the direct solar dryer was less preferred to those dried on the tree. The TP values were found to be good in the dried fruits with 200 g fruit being enough to meet the daily requirement. In addition, the vitamin A and vitamin C levels were still good after drying and storage. For both fresh and dried fruits the organic acid and basic sugar profile did not show a very clear picture, as the difference in rainfall and evaporation rates between the two years of the study influenced these parameters. The headspace gas chromatography (HSGC) gave 20 volatile organic compounds and the coupled mass spectrometry (HSGC-MS) gave 39 volatile organic compounds. Conclusion. The dried fruit of Cordia africana could be used to partially meet the daily nutritional requirements of households in Ethiopia.

Chickpea is an economically important pulse produced by millions of smallholder farmers as a source of food, income and nutrition in Ethiopia. Mold infection and mycotoxin production can potentially lead to significant losses of chickpea during storage. Under laboratory conditions we tested comparative effects of hermetic and traditional storage structures on mold infection, germination and mycotoxin levels of chickpea. Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags, Super GrainPro (SGP) bags, and small metal bins were compared to the traditional and popularly used chickpea storage structures such as polypropylene (PP) bags and jute bags over a six-month storage period. Oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, chickpea temperature and moisture, seed infection with molds and percentage germination and mycotoxins levels were determined every two months for six months. In PICS bags, SGP bags and metal bins chickpea temperature and moisture changed very little during storage, whereas in jute and PP bags significant temperature and moisture increases were observed. Oxygen levels in PICS and SGP bags decreased from 20% to 8–10% in six months and carbon dioxide levels increased from 0.4% to 10% in PICS bags and from 0.1% to 17% in SGP bags. In jute and PP bags, oxygen levels were around 20% but carbon dioxide levels increased from 0.05% to 0.1–0.2%, perhaps due to mold activity. Mold infection decreased over time in chickpea stored in PICS bags, SGP bags, and metal bins, and seed germination was high (82–92%). Mold infection increased and seed germination decreased in chickpea stored in jute and PP bags. Increases in levels of aflatoxin, fumonisin, deoxynevalenol, and ochratoxin were observed only for chickpea stored in metal bins, and in jute and PP bags. Our study showed that PICS and SGP bags can effectively arrest mold growth, mycotoxin accumulation and preserve germination of chickpea during six months of storage.