College of Agriculture

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The College of Agriculture is committed to advancing agricultural education, research, and community service. It serves as a center for knowledge creation and dissemination in crop science, animal production, natural resource management, and sustainable agriculture.

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ADOPTION OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION PRACTICE AROUND LAKE HAWASSA, SIDAMA REGION, ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2022) ENDALE ESRAEL
Ethiopia is promoting SWC technologies for improving agricultural productivity, climate change adaptation, household food security and rural livelihoods. The effectiveness of these SWC practices that are alleged to enhance productivity is very important in order to evaluate their performance in reducing land degradation and rehabilitating the land. The major concern of this study is to analyze the adoption of soil and water conservation practice around Lake Hawassa. The data were collected from 150 farmers residing in 3 Kebeles that are randomly selected from 25 rural Kebeles where soil and water conservation have been introduced and widely implemented. Both qualitative and quantitative data were used to have reliable information. The basic data used for this study were collected from Sample households, focus group participants and key informants through structured questionnaire and semi-structured checklists. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistical tools such as mean, frequency, percentages, tables, Chi-square and t-test and inferential statistical tools such as binary logistic regression model and multiple linear regression models. The survey data identified that out of the total (150) households, 100 (66.7%) were being adopted SWC activities in their lands while the rest 50 (33.3) households didn’t adopted SWC. The Chi-square result showed that sex, marital status, level of education, credit access and extension services were affects SWC positively and statistically at 5% significant level and the t-test result showed that age and land size affects SWC positively and statistically at 5% significant level. The logistic regression model showed that advisory services, training on SWC, number of family size and education level significantly influences adoption of SWC measure in the study area. The comparative analysis of maize production showed 17.5508 quintals average yield increment in case of SWC adopting households as compared to non-adopter during 2020/2021 production season. The results revealed positive relationships between total yield of maize and labor, seed, land, and oxen (draft access). Based on this result, labor and land are the most significant factors of maize production among SWC adopters. As more of these factors of production (land and labor) are used increasingly, there will exist more maize yield among the adopter households. This increased crop yield as a result introduction of SWC to farmer’s farm also enhanced their income, achieving food security and livelihood in the study area. The researcher recommends, the stakeholders need to work jointly to improve the farmer’s access to SWC training service, and provide different advisory services while promoting SWC technologies among small holders in the study area.
AGRO-MORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ANALYSIS OF ETHIOPIAN MUSTARD (Brassica carinata) LANDRACES IN SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2025) IBRAHIM HASSEN GUYO
Genetic diversity analysis of Ethiopian mustard landraces is an important step in selection and hybridization of plant with required traits to develop well adapted and farmers preferred high yielding varieties. The Field experiment was conducted at Hula district in Sidama region to study the genetic diversity of forty nine brassica carinata landraces collected from different agro-ecologies of southern Ethiopia. The experiment was carried out in a simple lattice design with the objective of assessing and estimating the genetic diversity of local landraces based on phenological and agro-morphological traits; estimating association and heritability of the study traits and to identify the best performances of landraces further breeding work for their leaf yield. The analysis of variance shows the significant differences among landraces for all leaf parameter as well as all phenological traits. The high degree of variability among the Ethiopian mustard landraces were observed for studied traits. The estimation of genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variations was studied, the highest genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation suggested that the Brassica carinata landraces are highly diverse and provides a wide range of possibilities for selecting further breeding. The result heritability of broad sense (H2b) values in all traits was very high ranging from 90.99 to 99.975%; this implies that the genetic component of variation is substantial for all traits. To evaluate the pattern of variation, the principal component analysis was conducted for all quantitative traits. The first three principal components accounted for most of the variation observed and cumulatively explained 82.99% of the total variation among the all quantitative traits. Clustering produced a clear grouping of the forty nine landraces into four major groups of clusters Where, by the individuals within any one cluster are more closely related than individuals in different clusters. The landraces that early flowered are grouped in the same group, and the same is true for the late flowering landraces as well as the landraces with highest leaf yield was clustered in the same group. Overall, the study shows the wide variation and presences of high genetic variability among Brassica carinata landraces.
AGRO-MORPHOLOGICAL VARIABILITY, GENOTYPE BY ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION, NUTRIENT AND LAND-USE EFFICIENCY, AND NUTRITIONAL PROFILE OF OAT (Avena sativa L.) GENOTYPES IN ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2024) GEZAHAGN KEBEDE BUNARE
Agro-morphological variability, genotype by environment interaction, nutrient and land-use efficiency, and nutritional profile of oat (Avena sativa L.) genotypes in Ethiopia Oat (Avena sativa L.) is one of the useful annual cereal crops grown at higher altitudes in the tropics and temperate regions. It is a dual-purpose crop cultivated for fodder and grain production in the central highlands of Ethiopia. This crop is mainly cultivated for fodder production and the grain is also used for human food and animal feed in Ethiopia. Oat generally produces high amounts of fodder which has better nutritional quality and it can be used as a green feed and the excess production can be conserved as hay and silage to utilize during the feed scarcity period. Despite its significance, oat production, and productivity are highly influenced by genetics, environments, agronomic management, and their interactions. Therefore, developing high-yielding oat varieties with stable performance under diverse environmental conditions and improving the productivity of oat through various agronomic management are the major research areas for oat improvement in Ethiopia. However, studies on agromorphological based genetic diversity and yield stability of oat genotypes under diverse environmental conditions and the optimum nutrient requirements of oat for higher yield and nutritional quality under sole and mixed cultures with vetch have not been well studied and properly documented in the country. Thus, the overall aim of this study was to enhance the productivity of oat genotypes through proper exploitation of genetic variability and agronomic management under different environments and management conditions. The first experiment was conducted using 120 oat genotypes using a randomized complete block design with three replications at Holetta and Ada-Berga research stations in the 2020/2021 cropping season. The objectives of this study were to estimate the extent of agro-morphological based genetic variability, heritability, and genetic advance in oat genotypes, to investigate the phenotypic and genotypic relationships between the studied quantitative traits, to determine the direct and indirect effects of measured quantitative traits on fodder and grain yields, and to evaluate the genetic variations using cluster, genetic divergence, and principal component analyses for oat yield improvement. The results revealed that moderately high to very high heritability (62.9– 86.4%) coupled with high to moderate genetic advance as percent of mean (16.0–26.1%) were recorded for forage dry matter yield (FDMY), number of leaves at forage harvest (NLFH), stem dry matter yield (SDMY), forage yield production rate (FYPR), grain yield (GY), panicle length at grain harvest (PLGH), number of spikes per panicle (NSPP), and harvest index (HI). This result demonstrated that the selection of oat genotypes based on these traits could be effective for yield improvement. The genotypic and phenotypic correlation and path coefficient analyses indicated that the FYPR had a significant positive association and high direct effect on FDMY and also the biological yield production rate (BYPR) and HI had a significant positive association and high direct effect on GY. This indicated that selection based on FYPR and BYPR/HI would simultaneously improve the FDMY and GY in oat genotypes, respectively. The multivariate analysis revealed that the studied genotypes grouped into four clusters with the intra and inter-cluster genetic distances ranging from 2.3 to 4.3 and 11.7 to 63.2, respectively. The principal component analysis showed that traits such as FYPR, BYPR, PLGH, FDMY, and xxxi number of spikelets per panicle (NSLPP) contributed more for the first component whereas HI, GY, NLFH, and plant height at grain harvest (PHGH) had a high contribution for the second component. The presence of genotype by environment interaction (GEI) complicates the selection of genotypes with high yielding coupled with stable performance across environments. Twenty-four oat genotypes were selected and sown during the 2020/2021 cropping season at Holetta (E1), Ada-Berga (E2), Ginchi (E3), Jeldu (E4), D/Zeit (E5), Kulumsa (E6), Bekoji (E7), Kuyu (E8), and D/Markos (E9) agricultural research stations using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Thus, the second experiment aimed to assess the magnitude of GEI and to evaluate the fodder and grain yield stability performance of oat genotypes using univariate and multivariate statistical models. The additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analysis of variance for fodder yield showed that the total variation was highly contributed by the environment (E) main effect followed by GEI and genotype(G). Moreover, the GGE biplot analysis for fodder yield showed that G6 was the ideal genotype while G2, G3, G10, and G23 were desirable genotypes. Among environments, E7 was an ideal environment whereas E1 and E8 were favorable environments. The results of univariate stability analysis indicated that selection of oat genotypes using genotypic superiority index (Pi), yield stability index (YSI), coefficient of determination (R2 ), and coefficient of variation (CVi) stability parameters would be effective for fodder yield improvement. Similarly, the AMMI analysis of variance for grain yield showed that the E main effect was the highest contributor to the total variation followed by G and GEI. Based on the GGE biplot analysis for grain yield, G19 was an ideal genotype while G8, G11, G12, G14, G17, and G22 were desirable genotypes. Moreover, the ideal environment was E2 whereas E1, E4, and E5 were favorable environments. The univariate stability analysis for grain yield indicated that high grain yield-producing oat genotypes had stable performance using the stability parameters of Pi , the Perkins and Jinks adjusted linear regression coefficient (Bi), and YSI. The yield and nutritional quality of oat can be improved through the application of optimum fertilizer at the right time. Oat can be cultivated using the blanket recommended fertilizer rate in Ethiopia. Thus, the optimum fertilizer rate for fodder and grain production of oat has not been well studied and documented in the country. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the effect of fertilizer rates on agro-morphological traits, nutrient uptake and use efficiency, nutritive value, and economic feasibility of oat varieties at Holetta. The study was carried out during the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 cropping seasons using a factorial arrangement of eight levels of the blanket recommended fertilizer (0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, and 175%) and three oat varieties (CI-8251, SRCPX80Ab2291, and Sorataf) in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results showed that variety, fertilizer, and year had significant effects on FDMY. The FDMY of oat varieties increased with increasing fertilizer rates and the highest (15.9 t/ha) yield was obtained from the application of 175% (71.8 kg N + 35 kg P/ha) fertilizer. Among oat varieties, the highest FDMY was obtained from CI-8251 (forage type oat) followed by SRCPX80Ab2291 (dual type oat) and Sorataf (grain type). The number of tillers per plant (NTPP), yields of morphological fractions (leaf, stem, and grain), FYPR, nutrient concentration, and uptake had significant positive associations with fertilizer levels and FDMY. However, all the nutrient use efficiencies except agro-physiological efficiency (APE) had inverse associations with fertilizer levels and FDMY. Similar to FDMY, the GY of oat varied significantly for variety, fertilizer, and year effects. Application of 150% (61.5 kg N + 30 kg P/ha) fertilizer rate produced the highest GY (6.5 t/ha) and grain nutrient uptakeGNU (141.7 kg/ha) while the lowest GY and GNU were recorded from oat sown without fertilizer application. Sorataf (grain type) variety gave the highest GY, GNU, partial factor xxxii productivity (PFP), and agronomic efficiency (AE) compared to forage and dual-type oat varieties. Oat varieties sown with 25% (10.3 kg N + 5 kg P/ha) fertilizer rate produced the highest PFP (346.6 kg/ha) and AE (164.8 kg/ha) while PFP and AE decreased with increasing fertilizer rates. The nutrient concentration and uptake had positive associations with fertilizer level and GY while nutrient harvest index (NHI) and nutrient use efficiency had inverse associations with fertilizer level and GY. The nutritional quality analysis indicated that digestible yield (DY) and total digestible nutrient yield (TDNY) varied significantly with variety, fertilizer, and year effects. Among oat varieties, CI-8251 gave the highest TDNY while SRCPX80Ab2291 gave the highest DY but the Sorataf variety gave the lowest TDNY and DY. Most of the measured nutritional quality parameters varied for the interaction effect of variety by fertilizer by year effect. Sorataf variety sown with 175% fertilizer rate in 2020 gave the highest crude protein-CP (113.9 g/kg DM), crude protein yield-CPY (1.66 t/ha), and digestible crude protein-DCP (68.2 g/kg DM). Application of fertilizer and FDMY had significant positive associations with CP, CPY, DY, DCP, and TDNY. The combined partial budget analysis for the three oat varieties showed that application of 125% (51.3 kg N + 25 kg P/ha ) fertilizer rate produced higher net benefit (83,440 ETB) and marginal rate of return (12,635.6%) from fodder production. On the other hand, the application of 150% fertilizer rate produced the highest net benefit from grain production. Oat can be also cultivated with vetch (annul forage legume) to improve the quantity and quality of feed in the central highlands of Ethiopia. The oat/vetch mixtures are sown with the same blanket recommended fertilizer rate that is used for the production of sole oat in the country. This indicated that the application of fertilizer on oat/vetch mixtures does not depend on the nutrient requirements of oat and vetch for better growth and development under a mixed cropping system. Accordingly, the optimum fertilizer rate for the oat/vetch mixed cropping system has not been well studied and documented in the country. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of fertilizer rates on agro-morphological traits, nutrient uptake and use efficiency, competitive ability, and economic feasibility of oat under oat/vetch mixed cropping and nutritive value of mixtures at Holetta Agricultural Research Center during the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 cropping seasons. In this study, the oat/vetch mixture was sown with eight fertilizer rates (0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, and 175%) and also sole oat and sole vetch were sown with their recommended fertilizer rate (100%) using a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results showed that fertilizer and year had significant effects on all measured agro-morphological traits, nutrient concentration, and nutrient uptake and use efficiency of oat. Accordingly, all the measured agro-morphological traits increased with increasing fertilizer rates, and the highest values were recorded in the second year. Application of 150% fertilizer rate increased the FDMY of oat/vetch mixtures by 107.4% compared to oat/vetch mixtures sown without fertilizer application. However, the highest nutrient use efficiency was recorded with the application of fertilizer at the rate of 25% while the nutrient use efficiency was the lowest with the highest fertilizer (175%) application rate. The FDMY of oat under oat/vetch mixtures was associated significantly and positively with all measured agro-morphological traits, nutrient concentration, and uptake while it had significant inverse associations with nutrient use efficiencies. The highest net benefit and marginal rate of return were recorded from the application of 150% fertilizer rate. The productivity of oat under oat/vetch mixed cropping was also assessed using different indices. The results showed that over-yielding oat (OYO), land equivalent coefficient (LEC), area-time equivalent ratio (ATER), and land equivalent ratio (LER) were higher in the first year while oat equivalent yield (OEY) and system productivity index (SPI) were higher in the second year. All xxxiii the aforementioned biological efficiency indices increased with increasing fertilizer rates and the highest values were recorded from the application of 150% fertilizer rate. Similarly, all the measured competitive indices such as crowding coefficient of oat (KO), actual yield loss of oat (AYLO), intercropping advantages of oat (IAO), and the competitive ratio of oat (CRO) were higher in the first year. All the values of competitive indices except aggressivity of oat (AO) increased with increasing fertilizer rates and the highest values were recorded from the application of 150% fertilizer. The economic efficiency indices of oat/vetch mixtures showed that the higher values of monetary advantages index (MAI), relative value total (RVT), replacement value of intercropping (RVI), and relative net return index (RNRI) were recorded in the first year. All the values of economic efficiency indices increased with increasing fertilizer rates and the highest values were recorded from 150% fertilizer rate. The nutritive values of oat/vetch mixtures also varied with fertilizer application and year of production. All the measured nutritive values except fiber contents (NDF-neutral detergent fiber, ADF-acid detergent fiber, ADL-acid detergent lignin, HC-hemicellulose, and C-cellulose) were higher in the second year. Application of fertilizer at the rate of 150% gave the highest ash, CPY, digestible dry matter (DDM), dry matter intake (DMI), in-vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), DY, total digestible nutrients (TDN), TDNY, relative feed value (RFV), and relative feed quality (RFQ). On the other hand, oat/vetch mixtures sown without fertilizer gave the highest fiber contents. The person correlation analysis indicated that fertilizer application had significant inverse associations with fiber contents while it had significant positive associations with the remaining measured nutritional quality parameters. In conclusion, oat genotypes such as CI-715, CI-1463, SRCPX80Ab2806, A-505, CI-1480, S-122, Bona-bas, and CI-1674 were selected for fodder yield and grain yield improvement. Based on the AMMI, GGE, and univariate stability parameters, G6 (CI-1512), G9 (CI-1629), G10 (C-12), and G23 (CI-8235) were selected for fodder yield improvement while G8 (SRCPX80Ab2267), G17 (SRCPX80Ab2310), and G22 (SRCPX80Ab2691) were selected for grain yield improvement of oat. Application of 125% (51.3 kg N + 25 kg P/ha) fertilizer rate for fodder production and 150% (61.5 kg N + 30 kg P/ha) fertilizer rate for grain production could increase the respective yield and farm profitability in the study area. Similarly, application of 150% fertilizer rate would increase the fodder yield, competitive ability, and economic profitability of oat under oat/vetch mixtures and nutritive value of mixtures. However, the selected genotypes and fertilizer rates should be verified under diverse environments of oat-growing areas in Ethiopia.
ANALYSIS OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND CHANGE AND ITS IMPACTS ON WATER PRODUCTIVITY AND NUTRIENT USE EFFICIENCY OF MAIZE (Zea mays) IN THE GREAT ETHIOPIAN RIFT VALLEY BASINS
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2021) FITIH ADEME MAMO
Climate variability and change are a global phenomenon affecting many nations. Smallholder farmers in Ethiopia have been facing severe climate related hazards, in particular highly variable rainfall and severe droughts that negatively affect their livelihoods. Anticipated climate change is expected to aggravate some of the existing challenges and impose new risks beyond the range of current experiences. This study aimed at understanding current climate variability and future climate change, and its associated impacts in particular for maize production. The climate analysis was conducted in the Great Rift Valley Basins (GRVB), which represents diverse agroecology and farming systems. The climate variability and change impact study were conducted in the Central part of the Rift Valley (CRV), which represent a major cereal-based farming system of the semi-arid environments of Ethiopia. Empirical statistical analyses using field experimental data in combination with crop-climate simulation modelling were used to achieve the objectives of the study. A high spatial resolution regional climate models and a well-known crop growth simulation model were used for the modelling analysis, which is an innovative feature of the methodology used in this thesis. The analysis revealed that rainfall exhibited high interseasonal variability (coefficient of variation 13-37%) during the period 1981-2010 in the GRVB. The mean annual temperature significantly increased by +0.43 ºC [0.27 ºC to 0.58 ºC] per decade in the same period. Projections for future climate suggested that annual rainfall will change by -25 to +6% and the annual temperature is expected to increase in the range of 2.5-5.1oC by the end of this century. A corresponding change in length of growing period (LGP) from -5.66 to -25.5% for central semiarid and +3.9 to -16.4% for central sub-humid highlands was simulated in the near century. Maize grain yield was strongly (P<0.01) and positively correlated with seasonal rainfall (r=0.67-0.69) in the CRV while day temperature affected grain yield negatively (r= -0.44) at Ziway (P<0.05) during the simulation period. Simulated water-limited yields showed high inter-annual variability (coefficient of variation, ~24%) and about 47% of this variability was explained by the xvii variation in growing season rainfall. The observed farmers’ yield was 28, 48 and 57% lower than the researcher-managed, water--limited and potential yield of the crop, respectively, indicating wide maize yield gap in the region. Analysis of climate change scenarios showed that maize yield will decrease on average by 16.5 and 23% by mid and end of this century, respectively due to climate change. Similarly, water productivity is expected to decline on average by 2.2 and 12% in the CRV by mid and end centuries with respect to the baseline. Nutrient uptake and corresponding nutrient use efficiency (NUE) might also be negatively affected by climate change. Phosphorus uptake probably will decrease in the CRV on average by 14.5 to 18% by mid-century. Nitrogen and P use efficiency indicators showed decreases in the range between 8.5 to 10.5% and between 9.3 to 10.5%, respectively by midcentury relative to the baseline average. The simulation under no water and nutrient limitation condition ensured improvements of both water and nutrient use efficiency in the changed climate which could ensure modest production in the future. The high estimated impact of climate variability and changes on crop yield and associated resources use in the CRV imply greater risks on rainfed crop production in the region. Hence, the study recommends further assessment of potential adaptation options and economic impact of climate related risks in the region to provide full-fledged evidence for better policy decisions.
ASSEMET OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY IMPACTSE ON WHEAT PRODACTION, FARMERS’ PERCEPTION AND ADAPTAION STRATEGIES: THE CASE OF DOYOGENA WOREDA FARMING COMMUNITIES OF KAMBATA-TAMBARO ZONE, SNNPR, ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2022) MULUGETA GEBRE
Climate variability has adversely affected the livelihoods of people in developing countries where a large proportion of the population is heavily dependent on agriculture. Severe and repeated rise in temperature and rainfall failures caused loss of crops and livestock which resulted in food insecurity in Ethiopia. This study aims to assess farmers’ perception on climate variability, its impacts and adaptation strategies in Doyogena District.The study used multi stage sampling procedure. Purposive sampling procedure was used to select study area. Primary data were collected using key informant interviews, focus group discussions and household surveys with 181 households. Similarly, secondary data were collected from NMA and DWARDO. Descriptive statistics, MNL and SPI were used to analyze the collected data. According to the survey results, about 83% of the respondents perceive that, the rainfall amount in the study area is decreasing. However, long-term recorded 1996-2019 rainfall data showed that the annual rainfall is decreasing by the rate of –6.56 annually over the past 24 years. The mean annual rainfall was 1164.19mm with 11.5% of coefficient of variation which is less variable based on degree of variability. Similarly, 84.70% of interviewed farmers said that temperature is in increasing trend, which confirms the results from the analysis from 1996-2019 recorded data by NMA that indicated the mean minimum and maximum temperatures are increasing by 0.074ºC and 0.021ºC per annum respectively. The study had also shown that farmer’s adaptation strategies include; using improved crop variety, mixed crop livestock system, use of irrigation, soil and water conservation, adjusting planting date and income diversification activities. The marginal effects of MNL model results also indicated that, the adaptation strategies used by farmers were significantly (p< 0.05) influenced by age, family size, farm land size, monthly income and livestock ownership, whereas; sex, access to extension service, access to credit service and farming experience. Therefore, improving farmers’ perception of climate information, and promoting farm-level adaptation strategies such as the use of new agricultural technologies and adjusting planting date must be strengthened in the study area.
ASSESMENT OF FACTORS INFLUENCING ADOPTION OF AGROFORESTRY TECHNOLOGIES IN HALABA SPECIAL WOREDA, SOUTHEREN ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2016) MIHRETU ERJABO
Halaba special district is characterized by drought, soil erosion, high population pressure, poor livestock production, lack of feed for livestock, very deep water table, very low productivity of crops and food insufficiency. In order to address these problems, the woreda Agricultural Development office along with other management practices such as soil physical conservation measures agroforestry was introduced decades ago as a means to alleviate the problem. However, the level of agroforestry adoption remains low. The main objective of this study was to identify the factors that influence adoption of agroforestry technologies by farmers in the district. Random sampling procedure was employed to select two kebele administrations and respondents. Data collection was conducted by employing five different types of techniques such as rural household questionnaire survey, participatory rural appraisal, questionnaires for local and woreda extension staff, scanning government records & secondary data resources and field observation. A total of 12 key informants, 6 extension staffs and 182 households, samples were used in the data collection process. Chi-square test and t-test were used to determine whether there were statistically significant relationships between adoption of agroforestry and 15 selected variables. Out of which eleven were found to be significant to affect farmers’ adoptiveness. These were frequency of visits of farmers(13.39%), participation in training(11.49 %), farmers’ attitude towards agroforestry practices(10.61%), frequency of visits of extensionists(10.38%), participation in extension meeting(10.34%), participation in field day(10.28%), land holding size(9.29%), level of literacy(8.78%), awareness about the importance of agroforestry technology packages(7.06%), time taken from their residence to nearest extension(5.04%) and gender of respondents(3.34%). This study also identified various factors that may result in low adoption rates of agroforestry including fear of competition between trees & crops for water and nutrients uptake, seedling shortage, rainfall shortage, free grazing after crop harvest, financial problem, labor shortage, expecting trees as soil degrader & long span of trees and lack of need ranking of farmers by extension staff. To improve farmers’ adoption, the factors identified should be well addressed by launching a series and recurrent outreach extension program appropriate and suitable to farmers need.
ASSESSING LIVELIHOOD DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGIES IN RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN WEST BADEWACHO DISTRICT OF HADIYA ZONE, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2020) KEBEDE BEKELE WOILEBO
It is evident that climate change is real and rural farm households are focusing on several livelihood diversification options in response to climate change. In the study area, West Badewacho, the change in climate shifted households to carry out different livelihood strategies. The main aim of this study is to investigate livelihood diversification of farm households in response to climate change in the study area. Both primary and secondary data were collected to address the research objectives. Both Simple random sampling and systematic random sampling techniques were employed to collect the primary data from 147 household heads through interview; key informants interview, and focus group discussions. The secondary data were collected from Ethiopian National metrological agency. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive statistics like mean, maximum, minimum, percentage and multinomial logit model by using SPSS version 20 and STATA 13 software. Four livelihood diversification strategies were identified in the study area. Those are on-farm only, on-farm and non-farm, on-farm and off-farm, and the combination of on-farm, non-farm and off-farm livelihood diversification strategies. Generally, from the total households about 34% of them are participated in on-farm and non-farm livelihood diversification strategies response to climate change and to pursue livelihood income. The result shows that a livelihood diversification strategy is significantly influenced by sex, education level, family size, farm land size, extension contact, credit access and saving habit. The most important practice to adapt climate change and variability is livelihood diversification in the study area.
ASSESSING MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF EXOTIC CHICKEN BREED, REARED IN SHEBEDINO DISTRICT, SIDAMA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2020) ALEMU ALASO ADISO
Exotic chicken management practices, performance and challenges and opportunity infive kebeles of Shebedino district in Sidama Regional state, Ethiopia were assessed. Sample size of HHs for the survey was determined using a multi stage sampling technique and Processed data analyzed by using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20.0 soft ware. Five kebeles (2 from highland, 3 from midland and 4kebeles and 1kebele from rural and urban areas respectively) were selected purposively based on potential of production. Total sample size of selected population was 137of which59.85% was male and 40.15% were female. The average family sizes were 5.54 and 5.53 persons with in highland and mid-land of the district, respectively. Age of respondents ranged from 44.5 and 45 years for Highland and Mid-land Agro-ecologies of the district, respectively. Total landholding/HH were 0.5-1 ha (24.8%) and 1.25-1.75 ha (57.67%), 2-2.25 ha (13.13%) and 2.5-3 ha (4.4%) of the respondents both high and mid land agro-ecologies. Average numbers of exotic chicks, pullets, cockerels, hens and cocks per HH were 17, 5.3, 2.6, 7.3and 2.8 respectively, both high and mid land agro-ecologies. Majority of the sample respondents (58.7%) and (63.7%) in the highland and midland of the district respectively; keep exotic chickens primarily for income generation and next home consumption. Commonly distributed exotic chicken breeds were Sasso (49.64%), IB (Issa Brown) (43.06%) and BB (Bovans Brown) (7.3%) in the high land and mid land of the district. Majority of households (71.53%) practice free-scavenging or/and extensive poultry production system and about a quarter of them semi-intensive poultry production system. The exotic chickens rearing experiences of household were ≤ 5 years (8.76 %), 6-10 years (41.61 %) and > 10 years (49.63 %). Majority of respondents (67.9%) used traditional housing with main house. Higher numbers of the respondents (68.6%) obtain from local available feeds.75.9% of the respondents practiced supplementary feeding by maize, kocho, home left over and wheat bran to their exotic chickens. Majority of respondents (82.4%) provided water adi-libitum, whereas 14.7% provided three times per day and the remaining 2.9% offered twicea day. The major diseases reported in the study area, in the order of their importance, were Newcastle, coccidiosis and fowl pox. Bovans brown, Issa brown and Sasso attained sexual maturity at 90-120 days. The predators that most commonly occur and attack exotic chickens were wild cat (local name Ganchara), fox and hawk. Disease, feed problems followed by predators and poor adaptation were challenges of exotic chicken production. Major opportunities of rearing exotic chickens in the study areas were access to market, veterinary service and extension service and adaptation problem of exotic chickens. Government should create awareness on vaccination of chicken against major poultry diseases in the study areas.
ASSESSING THE EGG PRODUCTION AND EGG QUALITY TRAITS OF SASSO CHICKEN BREED REARED UNDER TRADITIONAL HUSBANDRY PRACTICES IN MIDLAND AND LOWLAND AGROECOLOGIES OF ALETA CHUKO DISTRICT, SIDAMA REGION
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2023) MULATU TEREFE
This study was conducted to assess egg production and egg quality traits of Sasso chicken breed reared in two agroecologies under traditional management system. For the assessment of the egg production practices, 165 households were purposively selected from lowland and midland agro ecologies who had three and above Sasso chicken. The egg quality traits were assessed from Sasso chicken breed reared by the households in both agro ecologies. A total of 200 eggs were used to determine the external and internal egg quality traits from sampled households. The collected data were analysed by SPSS Version 26. The results indicated that average age at first egg laying(160) days, average clutch length (22.9) and eggs/hen/year(214)were in lowland agroecology. Average age at first egg laying(149) days, average clutch length(23.9) and eggs/hen/year(232) were midland. Agro ecology had highly significant effect on all external egg quality traits except on egg width. Egg weight(57.58g) and egg length(57.46mm) of Sasso chickens was higher(p<0.05) in the lowland than(53.58g) and (55.80mm) in midland. Dry shell weight and shell thickness in the lowland agroecology was higher(p<0.05) than in midland. Shape endex was higher(p<0.05) in the midland than in lowland agro-ecology. Agro-ecology had also highly significant effect on most internal egg quality traits such as: yolk height, albumen height, albumen weight and haugh unit were higher(p<0.05) in lowland than in midland. The yolk ratio in lowland was lower(p<0.05) than in midland agro-ecology. However, albumen ratio was lower(p>0.05) in lowland than in midland agroecology. In conclusion, the Sasso chickens in the midland agroecology were superior in egg production than lowland. However,the Sasso chickens in the lowland agroecology were superior on most external and internal egg quality traits under traditional production system. It is thus recommended to rear the Sasso chicken hens in the midland agroecology for enhanced egg production and lowland for enhanced egg quality traits.
ASSESSMENT OF BUTTER PRODUCTION, CONSUMER AND MARKET PREFERENCES, QUALITY AND PRICES IN KINDDO DIDAYE OF WOLAITA ZONE, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2020) AMANUEL ELIAS LOTA
The study was conducted at Kinddo Didaye district, Wolaita zone southern Ethiopia with the objective of assessing butter production, consumer and market preferences, quality and prices in the area. Based on data collected between April to July 2019. The effect of agro ecology on butter production was analyzed. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select representative kebeles and households from Kinddo Didaye district. To conduct the study, one sample district (Kinddo Didaye) was purposively based on dairy cow potentiality and butter production. Six kebeles were selected in total (three from midland and three kebeles from lowland). 138 butter producing households were purposively selected based on dairy cow production and butter production from the study district. Besides this different 40 retailers, 10 butter shops and 50 consumers were interviewed. Local cattle are the most dominant milking cows were kept by all six kebeles. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected, involving household survey. Thus, all (100%) of the respondents were reported that clay pot churn is tool used for butter making. For washing and smoking milk equipments, plant leaves such as Ocimum hardiense (68.1%) and Cymbopogan martini (23.9%) were mostly used in both agro-ecologies. For butter averagely 3.0±0.12 and 2.91±0.01 volume of milk churned at a time in both lowland and midland agro-ecologies respectively. In addition, 17.92±0.13 and 15.04±0.09 liters of milk in both lowland and midland agro-ecologies respectively were used to produce 1kg of butter. Retailers and consumers got quality butter from producer; The destinations of the butter were to different areas in the country, mainly Wolaita Soddo, Hawassa, Addis Abeba and others. All assembler/butter shops sell butter by their shops. Consumers report shows that the quality attributes of butter preferable by consumers were 44% flavor, 32% texture, 20% color and remaining 4% fermentation in study district. The price of butter rise during holy days, non-fasting period and dry season. The challenges of butter production in the area were feed shortage, shortage of grazing area, dry season, price fluctuation and fasting season. The major type of adulteration that reported by consumers were 62.5% banana and 37.5% ‘shenolega’ in the study area
ASSESSMENT OF DAIRY CATTLE PRODUCTION PRACTICES, TRADITIONAL MILK PROCESSING, CONSUMPTION AND MARKETING IN MIRAB BADEWACHO DISTRICT OF HADIYYA ZONE, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA.
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2021) ADDISE DESTA
A study was conducted in Mirab Badewacho District of Hadiyya Zone, to assess the dairy cattle production practices, traditional milk processing, consumption and marketing systems in the area. This study was conducted from May2019 up to June, 2020. Five kebeles were selected from the district, two from highland and three from mid-altitude. A total of 138 dairy producers were randomly selected using multi-stage sampling techniques. Formal survey was conducted using structured questionnaire to collect both quantitative and qualitative data on data sets that explore dairy cattle production practices, traditional milk processing, consumption and marketing systems. The major milk production system practiced in the study area was crop livestock mixed production system. The effect of agro-ecology and genotype of dairy cows were used to evaluate milk production and reproductive performances variations. In the study district, an appreciable number of crossbred cows notably Jersey crosses (40.6%), still with (51.4%) local and (8%) HF crossbred cows were raised by dairy cattle milk producers. The cattle herd size of households was within the range 1-4 heads. In farm households who keep mainly local cattle breeds, lactating cows (0.75±0.036) and oxen (0.95±0.055) mainly dominate the herd composition while in case of cross breed (0.57±0.093) and (0.37±0.029) lactating cow and heifer were dominant, respectively. The composition of livestock was higher in midland than highland agro ecology which accounts 4.95TLU compared to 4.66 TLU. The overall mean milk yield obtained were (1.90±0.08) and (5.16±0.12) litres from local and Jersey cross cattle breed, respectively. The average milk off-take of 1.71 and 4.64litres, from local and Jersey cross breed, respectively. The overall average lactation length was 8.71±0.18 months for local cows, while it was 9.7±0.13 months for Jersey crossbreed cows. Overall mean for CI was 19.02±0.24 months for local cows and 15.97±0.17 months for Jersey crossbreed cows. Mean AFC for a local cow was4.57±0.07 years, while Jersey crosses breed cows had 2.98±0.05years. The typical dairy products in the study area were “Hadaro” in local name (culturally made from first two up to three week milked and fermented milk after calving) and “Shiffa” in local name (made culturally from partially churning sour milk. An informal dairy marketing system was the only marketing system in the study district. In general, the market share of whole milk/fermented milk was almost negligible in rural areas of the district, while butter and cheese was comparatively the most marketable commodity in the study area. Lack of improved forage, low milk yield of local cows, and high price of concentrate feed were mentioned by farmers as major constraints of milk production. In general, this study showed that despite the available cattle population and conducive agro-climate for dairy development, the performance of milk production in the study district was low and milk marketing system was undeveloped due to many constraints such as marketing channel, transport access, poor quality of milk and institutional related constraints. Therefore, dairy cattle milk production can be improved by solving constraints such as low milk yield of local cattle’s, feed shortage, health care, general husbandry and milk processing facilities, AI and extension services and developing efficient marketing systems.
ASSESSMENT OF FEED RESOURCES, FEEDING PRACITCE, MILK PRODUCTION AND EVALUATION OF MICROBIAL QUALITY OF MILK IN MALGA DISTRICT, SIDAMA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2022) SAMUEL SANBATO
The purpose of the study was to assess feed resource, feeding practice, milk production and microbial quality in malga district of Sidama region, Ethiopia. A multi-stage sampling procedure with combination of purposive and random sampling technique was employed for selecting the study area and sampled households. Systematic sampling method was used to select respondents from each selected kebele proportionally. The study was conducted by interviewing 150 smallholder milk producers who owned local cows and crossbred which were purposively selected from five kebeles from two agro-ecologies (highland and midland) and these were followed by collecting 35 milk samples from randomly selected milk producers for microbial quality analysis. The common feed resource identified at study area natural pasture 52%, crop residue and enset leaf 12%, improved forge 23.3%, supplemental feed (concentrated feed) 12.7% while feeding system the area free grazing 76.7%, stall feeding 13.3% and both free grazing and stall feeding 10%. The overall mean for local dairy cows and crossbred dairy cows daily milk yield and lactation length were 1.75±0.08 liter/day, 5.9±0.99 months and 4.5±0.17, 7.01±0.04, respectively.The estimated mean daily milk yield based on the farmers response varied significantly (P<0.05) among the agro ecologies. The result indicated that majority of the respondents use the shared with family house, clean their barn daily and more than once a week with 82.7%, 17.3%, and 91.75% respectively. Moreover, milking without hand washing, absence of udder washing and failure to use towel to clean the udder were practiced by 14.7%, 62% and 97.9% of the respondents, respectively. Households used equipment for milking, transportation, storage and churning, clay pot, plastic, and aluminum/stainless steel utensils to keep milk and milk products. The major source of water and water frequency for cleaning and watering their animal rivers 33.3% ponds 59.3% and well water7.7%. Majority of households 68.7% watering their animal once/day respectively. Concerning microbial quality, overall mean total bacterial counts (TBC)and coliform counts (CC) values of milk from current finding were 5.455 ± 0.075 log10 cfu/ml and 4.085 ± 0.02 log10 cfu/ml, respectively.In general, milk from highland area had high total bacterial and coliform load as compared to the sample taken from the midland area. From this study it has been concluded that hygienic milk production and microbial quality of milk from the midland area is better than highland and therefore extension work should focus in creating awareness and training dairy producers in a highland about clean milk production practices..
ASSESSMENT OF GRAZING LAND CONDITION, HERBACEOUS BIOMASS SPECIES AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION IN ADAMI-TULLU JIDO-KOMBOLCHA AND ARSI NEGELLE WOREDAS, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2016) MULUGETA GUDISA GORO
This study was conducted in Adami-Tullu Jido-Kombolcha and Arsi Negelle woredas, Southern Ethiopia. The objectives of the study were: (1) To assess the effects of grazing pressure and altitude on range condition, herbaceous biomass and species composition in the study areas and (2) To evaluate the effects of grazing pressure and altitude on chemical composition of herbaceous plants in the study areas. In the assessment of rangeland condition: grass species composition, basal cover, litter cover, number of seedlings, age distribution of dominant grasses, soil erosion and compaction were considered. The data were analyzed using GLM procedure in SPSS 16.0 version, which was used for mean comparisons using post-hoc t-test that can be employed to compare mean differences for enclosure and open grazed areas. To test the effect of management and altitude on rangeland condition, biomass production, chemical composition of herbaceous species, mixed model analysis was used where site was used as a random variable while management and altitude were fixed variables. The rangeland condition assessment factors showed that grass species composition, basal cover, litter cover, age distribution, number of seedlings, soil erosion and compaction, and total range condition scores in the enclosed areas were significantly (p<0.05) higher than in the open grazed areas. A total of 28 herbaceous species were identified. Of the identified herbaceous species, 20 were grasses, 2 were legumes while 6 species were forbs. Among the recorded grass species, some were highly desirable, while others were in the category of intermediate in terms of desirability and less desirable. The total biomass production of grasses, forbs and legumes in the enclosure areas were significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of the open-grazed areas across the study sites. The dominant and common grass species included: Arstida adscensionis, Cenchrus ciliarus, Chloris gayana, Chloris roxburghiana, Bothriochloa insculpta, Entropogon, Eragrostis papposa, Heteropogon contorus, Panicum maximum, Bides pilos sida ovate,Indigofer spinosa, Tephrosia pumila, Sporobolus pyrmidalis, Themeda triandra, B. nigropedata, Ocimum basilicum, Amaranthus dubis, Tribulos terrestris and Achyrantes aspera. The chemical composition of herbaceous plants were evaluated for DM, CP, NDF, ADF, ADL and Ash between the two management systems and among three site of different altitude for grazing land condition. The average CP content in the open-grazed area was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of enclosure grazing areas. This suggests that proper management of grazing lands in the study areas is required as part of the grassland monitoring activities and restoration programs. It is also suggested that the herbaceous forages were utilized at early stage of maturity to provide optimum nutrients for animals in the study area
ASSESSMENT OF HANDLING PRACTICES, PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND MICROBIAL QUALITY OF RAW COW’S MILK IN DALE AND LOKA ABAYA DISTRICTS, SIDAMA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2022) ZERIHUN BOGALE
The study was conducted in Dale and Loka Abaya districts to assess handling practices, physicochemical properties and microbial quality of raw cow’s milk in supply chains of two Agro-ecologies. A total of 120 respondents were randomly selected and interviewed on milk handling practices. For quality parameters analysis, forty five raw milk samples were taken from producers in two agro ecologies using random sampling method. The result indicated that, majority of respondents use clay pot (71.6 %) for milking and 67.5% of them use plastic equipment for transporting their milk to the market. Majority of respondents (83.34%) were not washing udder before milking and only 21.67% of the milkers washed their hands before milking. Cleaning and smoking of milking vessels were common in the study area. Pond was the main water sources used for cleaning purpose whereas Olea africana, Terminalla brownii, and Juniperous procera are the most frequently used plant species for smoking milk vessels. The overall mean for ph , specific gravity, titratable acidity, total solids, fat, solids-not-fat, protein and lactose contents of milk samples were 6.42 ± 0.26, 1.03 ± 0.002, 0.19 ± 0.05, 13.49 ± 0.41, 4.9 ± 0.39, 8.31 ± 0.13, 3.13 ± 0.21 and 4.67 ± 0.44, respectively. The overall mean for Ph, titratable acidity and solid not fat had significant differences between midland and lowland milk samples. The overall mean total bacterial count, coliform count and yeast and mould count of raw milk samples obtained in the study area were 7.64±0.78, 5.89±0.87, and 3.97±0.30 log10 cfu/ml respectively. The microbial quality of milk samples obtained from midland producers were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those obtained from lowland producers. In general, physicochemical property of milk samples obtained from producers were within the acceptable standard levels, except ph, Specific gravity and Titratable Acidity of marketed milk. Whereas the microbial quality of raw cow milk produced by two agro climatic areas do not meet the national and international standards set by regulatory agencies and thus could pose health hazards to the consumers Therefore, concerned bodies should intervene and support producers in the study area to improve hygienic practices and handling of milk.
ASSESSMENT OF MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, PRODUCTION PERFORMANCES, AND SOME EGG QUALITY TRAITS OF CHICKENS REARED IN LOKA ABAYA DISTRICT, SIDAMA ZONE, SOUTHERN, ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2019) HAILU DUKAKO
This study was carried out in Loka Abaya District, Sidama Zone of Southern Ethiopia. So far there are limited studies conducted in Loka Abaya targeting comprehensive description of the production performance, associated constraints, management practice, and egg quality traits of backyard chicken in rural communities. The objectives of the study were to assess chicken husbandry practices, production, and reproduction potential and evaluate some egg quality parameters in the study. The agro ecology was arranged systematically, Kebeles were selected purposively, and random sampling was used to select 120 chicken rearing households from two agro ecologies. Household survey, key informant interview, and focus group discussions were employed to draw out appropriate data using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire, interview schedule, and discussion guide. Concerning egg quality determination, households who have native chicken and cross chicken ecotypes were identified from each agro ecology and, 200 eggs were collected for quality parameters generally. Chi- square test and ANOVA were employed to analyze the statistical difference between two agro ecologies. Accordingly, the result revealed that the mean flock structure of chicks, cockerels, pullet, hens, and cocks, were 5.4 (0.01TLU), 0.9 (0.01TLU), 1.5(0.01TLU), 4.5(0.01TLU) and 0.8 (0.01TLU) heads per household, respectively and mean flock size of chicken 9.4(0.01). The current finding also indicated that the major feed resources were scavenging and supplementary feed (47.5%) and types of supplementary feed was maize and wheat (52.5%). Regarding housing, watering, and chicken constraints; 50.8% of respondents house their chicken with family, 89.2% of respondent provide water freely and predator were major problem followed by disease. Based on survey result the primary purpose of chicken production in the study area was income generation. The current finding also showed that majority of farmers in the study area, purchased veterinary drugs@Oxytetracycline 20% to treat their chicken (47.5%) and also used ethno veterinary medicines (39.2%) and used “Ash “during hatching or egg incubation time to protect eggs from contamination of human hands (90%). The result also indicated that the major determinant factors that affectinfluencing the chicken husbandry practices in the study area include presence of predators, disease, feed shortage, lack of adequate veterinary services and lack of knowledge about modern chicken husbandry practices were identified as the major determinant factors that influence poultry production in the study area. Regarding egg quality parameters; there were difference (p<0.05) between egg weight, egg width, albumen height, albumen weight, yolk color, specific egg gravity, and Haugh unit. An understanding of factors influencing the decision of the respondents were associated with improvement in poultry husbandry critical when formulating technologies regarding with husbandry practices that support chicken production.
ASSESSMENT OF MANGO YIELD LOSS AND FRUIT FLY (DIPTERA, TEPHRITIDAE) MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF MANGO PRODUCING FARMERS IN ARBAMINCH ZURIA WOREDA, ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2023) ESSEYNESH ALEMAYEHU FENTAHUN
Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is a valuable food and cash crop that contributes to agricultural development agents. This study was conducted to assess mango fruit yield loss due to fruit flies (Diptera, Tephritidae) and management approaches by farmers in Arbaminch, Zuria Woreda. Three administrative kebeles, viz., "Chano mile," "Lante," and "Kolla shele," were purposively selected from the Arbaminch Zuria Woreda. Both survey and assessments were collected. Sixty respondents were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. Mango variety, mango pests and their economic importance, abundance, infestation, yield loss estimation, management practices applied for fruit flies and farmers’ willingness to pay for the best management options were assessed. The results were analyzed using SPSS software and presented using descriptive statistics; and the variables were tested by chi-square test. Farmers in Arbaminch Zuria produced five types of mango varieties, with local mango varieties being the most common. All the respondent farmers (100%) had the local mango variety. Common mango fruit pests like fruit flies, white mango scales, mealybug, grivet monkeys, speckled birds, and weaver ants as an indirect pest which may interfere with natural enemies were recognized. The fruit fly species Bactrocera invadens was trapped in the field with the abundance of 43 flies per trap per day (FTD). Fruit flies caused 94.28±10.21 Kg and 29.84% of loss in fruit yield per tree. The mean monetary loss value was estimated to 471,412.3±51010.9 birr/ha/year. The highest infestation was recorded in the peak harvest time (February) which was 40.78%. To overcome the fruit fly damage, mango producers applied different management methods. Of these methods, Methyl Eugenol trapping, field sanitation, burying infested fruits, and smoking the field were the most common. It was concluded that mango fruit flies are the most economically important insect pests of mango in the Arbaminch Zuria Woreda. The study recommends the evaluation and release of less susceptible mango varieties to fruit fly infestation, white mango scale, and other pests and diseases, evaluate the farmers’ practices. And new methods of management to develop a holistic integrated pest management system
ASSESSMENT OF MILK PRODUCTION PRACTICES AND MICROBIAL QUALITY OF COW MILK PRODUCED IN ALETAWONDO DISTRICT, SIDAMA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2021) ASHENAFI SHARO SHALAMO
The purpose of the study was to assess milk production practices and to evaluate microbial quality of raw cows’ milk in Aleta wondo district of Sidama region, Ethiopia. A multi-stage sampling procedure with combination of purposive and random sampling technique was employed for selecting the study area and sampled households. Systematic sampling method was used to select respondents from each selected kebele proportionally. The study was conducted by interviewing purposively selected 195 smallholder milk producers from five kebeles from two agro-ecologies (highland and midland) who owned local and crossbred cows. Milk samples were collected from 40 milk producers, small shops, cafes and consumers for microbial quality analysis. The overall average daily milk yield and lactation length for local dairy cows and crossbred dairy cows were 1.55±0.08 liter/day, 8.21±0.99 months and 6.67±0.17 liter/day, 9.31±0.04 months, respectively. The estimated average daily milk yield varied significantly (P<0.05) among the agro ecologies. The result indicated that majority of the respondents (91.3%) did not have cow barn and milking area, 60% of them clean their barn once and more than once a week. Moreover, milking without hand washing, absence of udder washing and failure to use towel to clean the udder were practiced by 34.4%, 52.3% and 73.3% of the respondents, respectively. Households used equipment for milking, transportation, storage and churning, clay pot, plastic, gourd and aluminum/stainless steel utensils to keep milk and milk products. The major source of water for cleaning purpose was tap, rivers ponds and well water. Majority of households 70.3% used cold water for washing milk handling equipment. Concerning microbial quality, overall average total bacterial counts (TBC), coliform counts (CC), yeast and mould (YMC) and Staphylococcus species(SC) values of milk from current finding were 5.699 ± 0.017, 4.689 ± 0.023 log10 cfu/ml,5.366±0.023 and 5.625 ± 0.027, respectively. The microbial load was higher (P<0.05) in different milk sources in the study area except staphylococcus species. In general, overall quality of milk produced as well as marketed in the study area was poor. These were justified from poor hygienic practices and high values of CC that were significantly higher than the acceptable limits set by Ethiopian Standards for unpasteurized milk. Therefore, adequate sanitary and control measures should be taken at all stages from production to consumer level to produce and supply wholesome milk.
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 BULULA
Arabica 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.
ASSESSMENT OF PRODUCTION AND MARKETING SYSTEMS, AND ON-FARM EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF SUPPLEMENTING THE LEAVES OF Balanites aegyptiaca AND MAIZE GRAIN ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMIC RETURN OF INDIGENOUS GOATS IN GAMOGOFA ZONE
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2017) NIGATU DEJENE DENEKE
The study was conducted in Arbaminch Zuria and Mirab Abaya districts of Gamogofa Zone of SNNPRS of Ethiopia. The objectives of the study were to assess goat production and marketing system, identify and prioritize goat production and marketing constraints and opportunities, and evaluate the effect of supplementing with the leaves of Balanites aegyptiaca and maize grain on growth performance & economic return of indigenous goats in the study area. The study involved 2 parts. The survey part of the study assessed goat production and marketing system using cross sectional survey, focus group discussion and key informants interview. A total of 120 representative households (2 districts x 2 Agro ecology x 2 PA x 15 households) were selected for the study following multi-stage stratified sampling, the action research part evaluated growth performance and economic return of indigenous bucks supplemented with maize grain and leaves of Balanites aegyptiaca . Thus, 20 intact 8-10 month age indigenous bucks with an average initial body weight of 16.13±0.3kg (Mean± SE) were drawn from volunteer goat producers. The bucks were blocked into five blocks/farmers of four bucks based on initial BW and randomly assigned to one of the four treatment feeds within a block/farmer allowing five bucks per treatment feeds. Dietary treatments consisted of feeding natural grass hay ad libitum supplemented with 50g wheat bran (T1); feeding natural grass hay ad libitum supplemented with mixtures of 50g wheat bran and 200g cracked maize grain (T2); feeding natural grass hay ad libitum supplemented with mixtures of 50g wheat bran and 200g dried leaves of Balanites aegyptiaca (T3), and feeding natural grass hay ad libitum supplemented with 50g wheat bran, and mixture of 200g of dried leaves of Balanites aegyptiaca and cracked maize grain at 1:1 ratio (T4).The experiment was laid down using randomized complete block design. According to the respondents, income generation was the primary reason for keeping goats with the highest index values of 0.277 followed by saving, use of manure, as social capital and meat consumption with an index values of 0.269, 0.177, 0.163 and 0.114, respectively. Road side browsing ranked as the first source of feed for goats according to the average rank results from interviewed households with the highest index value of 0.246 and followed by Communal and private browsing lands with an index values of 0.229 and 0.227, respectively. Among the available water sources, rivers contribute the highest 40% of the water required for goats. Disease and parasites were the major constrains for the sector and caused higher 13.2%, 13.6%, 14.7% and 13.3% death of unweaned male kids, unweaned female kids, weaned male kids and weaned female kids, respectively in Arbaminch Zuria district from the studied areas 12 months before the start of this study. Male and female goats achieve AFS at 9.4 and 7.9 months and also fertile at ages below 54.6 and 95.5 months respectively. AFK, KI, LS, weaning age of kids and lifetime kid productions were 13.9, 7.8, 1.24, 4.1 months and 14.5 respectively. Brokers are the major marketing constraint and about 95% and 31.7% of the midland and lowland respondents, respectively reported that they sales their goats by eye ball price estimation. The action research showed that supplementing goats with maize grain and Balanites aegyptiaca (T2-T4) improved ADG (48.7, 48.9 and 66.8g/day for T2, T3 and T4, respectively) compared to the control (33.2g/day). However, among the supplemented groups, bucks fed on T4 gained superior ADG than bucks fed on T2 and T3 diets. Moreover, partial budget analysis confirmed that T4 was more profitable compared to other supplementary treatments. Therefore, it is concluded that supplementing growing bucks with T4 could be recommended for smallholder goat fatteners.
ASSESSMENT OF PRODUCTION PRACTICE, FEED RESOURCE AVAILABLITY AND MARKETING SYSTEM OF SMALL RUMINANTS IN BONA ZURIYA DISTRICT SIDAMA RIGION ETHIOPIA
(Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2020) TESHOME TAFESE SHURA
This study was conducted to assess production practices, feed resources availability and marketing systems of small ruminant in Bona zuriya district, Sidama regional state, Ethiopia. Results are based on survey of 126 households. Sites were stratified into mixed sheep-goat flock, goat dominating and sheep dominating. Average family size in the study area was 6.7. With respect to livestock holdings more than half of the total TLU was accounted for sheep and goats. Small ruminant was primarily kept for sale to generate cash and majorities (98.9%) of small ruminant owners extensively milk their flock for household consumption. Sucking young (22.8% lambs; 26.7% kids) and breeding female (39.3% ewes; 39.4% does) dominate the flock. Respondents reported that grazing on crop stubble (13.4%), private pastures (13.3%) and road sides (13.2%), weeds (11.6%), tillers and fillers (8.9%) from crop fields, cut-and-carry of browse species and grasses (9.1%) and communal pastures (9.4%) was major feed resources of sheep and goats. Drinking water for flock largely comes from rivers (55.2%), artificial ponds (21.9%), trough and harvested water. Diseases and parasites cause losses of flocks (34.6%). Rate of loss was higher in young (35.0% lambs; 35.5% in kids) and mothers (42.9% in ewes; 30.6% in does). Losses by predators were noticeably higher in sheep and goats dominating site. Body conformation, physical characteristics (coat color, horn and tail), age were the major criteria household considers in selecting small ruminant for castration and fattening. Smallholder farmers make targeting the seasonal holiday markets. Major destination of fattened flocks was the Bona, Bensa Daye, Hula, Bursa, Xexicha, Aleta Wondo and Hawasa Markets. Consumers demonstrated high preferences to animals from study areas and evidently pay higher prices. This is largely exploitable opportunity for development of smallholder small ruminant production. Small ruminant production is constrained by outbreaks of disease and parasite, predators, feed and water shortage, lack of production technology and seasonality of markets. Interventions covering health, feed production and managements, marketing, and extension supports delivering the necessary training and production technologies/inputs could help farmers to build their flock and improve productivity.