Horticultural Science
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Item GROWTH AND BULB YIELD RESPONSE OF ONION (Allium cepa L.) VARIETIES TO VARYING LEVELS OF NITROGEN AND VERMICOMPOST IN BIISHAAN GURACHAA, OROMIA, ETHIOPIA(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2025) BADEGE AYELEOnion is a vital horticultural crop in Ethiopia, supporting both rural livelihoods and urban food systems. However, its productivity remains low due to poor nutrient management, declining soil fertility, and continued reliance on unimproved varieties. Excessive nitrogen use often results in delayed maturity and reduced bulb quality, while organic inputs like vermicompost remain underutilized. This study was conducted to evaluate the combined effects of nitrogen and vermicompost on the growth, yield, quality, and economic performance of improved onion varieties under highland conditions. A field experiment was carried out during the off-season at Shallo Farm, using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatments were arranged in a 3 × 4 × 3 factorial combinations comprising three onion varieties (Rio Bravo f1, Nafis, and SV Runagrana f1), four nitrogen rates (0, 75, 150, and 225 kg N ha⁻¹), and three vermicompost levels (0, 5, and 7 t ha⁻¹), giving 36 treatment combinations. Data were collected on phenology, growth, yield, and bulb quality parameters, and subjected to both agronomic and economic analyses. The three-way interaction among variety, nitrogen, and vermicompost significantly (P < 0.01) influenced most growth, yield, and quality traits. SV Runagrana f1 exhibited the best performance, producing the highest total bulb yield (57.48 t ha⁻¹) and marketable yield (51.13 t ha⁻¹) at 225 kg N ha⁻¹ combined with 7 t ha⁻¹ vermicompost. Excessive fertilization (>225 kg N + 7 t VC ha⁻¹) increased unmarketable yield, delayed maturity, and lowered bulb quality. Economic analysis further revealed that SV Runagrana f1 at 225 kg N + 7 t VC ha⁻¹ provided the highest net field benefit (4,471,000 Birr ha⁻¹), benefit–cost ratio (35.1%), and marginal rate of return (15,000 %), indicating strong profitability despite higher input costs. In contrast, moderate fertilization (75 kg N + 5 t VC ha⁻¹) offered a favorable trade-off between yield stability, quality, and input efficiency, making it a more sustainable option for smallholder farmers. Therefore, the study demonstrated that onion yield, quality, and economic returns are highly dependent on the interaction between genotype and nutrient management.Further studies should investigate long-term soil fertility effects and validate the economic sustainability of these practices across diverse agro- ecological zones.Item EFFECT OF COMBINED APPLICATION OF FARMYARD MANURE AND INORGANIC FERTILIZER (NP) SOURCE ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF POTATO (Solanum tuberosum L.) IN HADIYA ZONE, DUNA DISTRICT, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA.(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2020) DEMEKE WOEMEBO SELATOPotato (Solanum tuberosum.L) is one of the most important tuber crops produced in southern Ethiopia. However, production and productivity of the crop is far below the world average due to inappropriate agronomic management practices including nutrient management. An experiment was conducted to study the effect of combined application of farmyard manure (FYM) and inorganic fertilizer (NP) on yield and quality of potato. Treatments consisted of five levels of NP (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of recommended NP) and four levels of FYM (0, 5, 10 and 15 t ha -1 ). The treatments were assigned in completely Randomized Block Design (RCBD) with a 5x4 factorial arrangement with three replications. Data were collected on growth, yield and quality parameters and analyzed using SAS 9.0 software. Results revealed that most of the growth, yield and quality parameters such as, plant height, days to flowering, main stem number, days to physiological maturity, total tuber number, marketable tuber number, total tuber yield, marketable tuber yield and specific gravity were influenced by the main effect of inorganic NP and farmyard manure. The result also indicated that interaction effect of inorganic NP and farmyard manure significantly affected unmarketable tuber yield, aboveground fresh yield, aboveground dry yield, large sized tuber (%), Medium sized tuber (%) and Dry matter content. The highest aboveground fresh yield, highest aboveground dry yield, highest large sized tuber and medium sized tuber were obtained from application of 100% inorganic NP with 15t ha -1 farmyard manure. While the lowest values of parameters were recorded from the control treatment. Further, the highest marketable yield, total tuber yield and highest tuber dry biomass were obtained from each of 15 t ha -1 FYM and 100% NP fertilizer. From economics point of view, the maximum marginal rates of return (2446.90%) with its net benefit value of 190,128 ETB ha -1 was recorded from the application of 10t ha -1 farmyard manure. With regard to inorganic fertilizer 50% of recommended NP showed the highest marginal rate of return (1176.14%) with a net benefit of 167645ETB.Therefore, farmers in the study area can apply 10t ha -1 farmyard manure or 50% of recommended inorganic NP fertilizer.Item Assessment of Postharvest Management and Effects of Harvesting Methods and Drying Structures on Unwashed Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Quality in Kercha District, Southern Ethiopia(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2019) DANIEL DUBA BULULAArabica coffee, which has 75-80% share in the world coffee production and marketing is the most important economic crop in Ethiopia. Unwashed coffee shares 71% of total coffee processed in the country. There is lack of profound assessment work to identify the specific postharvest management practices that affecting the quality of unwashed coffee in Kercha district, and effect of harvesting method and drying structures on each quality parameters of the coffee as general. The study was designed to assess the postharvest management practices, and evaluate the effects of harvesting methods and drying structures on unwashed coffee quality in 2018 production season. For the assessment, from 3 representative kebeles, 120 households were selected randomly. A total of 9 focused group discussion (role model, non-role model and women farmers) and 15 key informant interviews were employed. Survey data were analyzed by using Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The experiment was conducted as a factorial combination of two harvesting methods (selective picking and stripping) and four drying structures (bare ground, cemented floor, bamboo mat bed and mesh wire bed) in Completely Randomized Design with three replications. Coffee quality analysis was done in laboratory by certified panelists’ team of Ethiopia commodity exchange (ECX) enterprise following the standardized grading scale procedures. Experimental data were analyzed by using Software for Agricultural Sciences (SAS) and General Linear Model (GLM) procedures. The results showed that in the district, 50.8%, 100%, 82.5% and 33.3% of the farmers harvesting their coffee by stripping at inappropriate fruit maturity stage, packing with polyethylene sack, storing at inappropriate place and transacting at illegal market respectively. The interaction of the harvesting methods and drying structures showed significant effect (P<0.0266) on the primary defects, acidity and body of unwashed coffee. Similarly, the interaction effect was significantly (P<0.0018) affected the flavor and total cup quality of the coffee. The main effect of the harvesting method s showed significant effect (P<0.0001) on the secondary defects and total raw bean quality. The main effect of the drying structures revealed significant effect (P<0.0001) on the odor of the beans. Both the main effects of harvesting methods and drying structures showed significant effects (P<0.0001) and (P=0.0002) on the overall coffee quality. Generally, in Kercha district, postharvest management practices of unwashed coffee are amongst the main problems that affecting the coffee quality. Selective picking with mesh wire bed, bamboo mat bed and cemented floor resulted in better quality coffee than stripping with all of these structures, and selective picking with bare ground. Therefore, there should be improvement in coffee harvesting methods, storage and transactions conditions in the district. Besides, selective picking with drying on bamboo mat bed which maintains the inherent quality of unwashed coffee is recommended for the farmers.