Advances in Agriculture

Tea is one of the most commonly consumed stimulants in the world. It is cultivated commercially at Wushwush, Gumero, and Chewaka tea estate plantations, in Ethiopia. Over 150,000 hectares of Ethiopian land are available for the production of high-quality tea, but only 3,099 hectares are currently under cultivation. In Ethiopia, tea clones Mlk-1, Mlk-2, 11/56, S-15/10, FNF, 11/4, 6/8, L6, B9, Chai, BB-35, and SR-18 are commercially grown. Ethiopia’s favorable environmental conditions for high-quality tea production increased the availability of tea throughout the year, and the availability of a sufficient labor force is a significant opportunity for tea companies. However, tea production is still infant because it needs huge capital to establish the tea plantations and production, the pest problems, limitations of improved technologies like cultivars, and lack of tea genetic resources. Besides, there is a limitation of comprehensive research to develop innovative technologies in the case of tea agronomic, breeding, and pest management for Ethiopian conditions. Thus, the government should invite investors and facilitate necessary things for the investors to increase the tea industry in the country. The tea research should be strengthened for the development and implementation of the appropriate technologies.

Objective. The study aimed to characterize the reproductive performances and physical characteristics of Blackhead Somali indigenous sheep breeds. Methods. The data from 460 sheep were used for the determination of morphometric characterization while 110 male sheep and 150 females were used to characterize the reproductive performance of Blackhead Somali sheep breeds. Results. Accordingly, about 86% of sheep have a white body with a blackhead as the dominant coat color and about 81% of sheep have a straight facial head profile. Dewlap was present in 92.7% (91.8% for males and 92.7% for females). The overall average body weight, body length, height at wither, height at the rump, heart girth, chest depth, pelvic width, and tail circumference differs significantly () among males and females with the advancement of age. The average age at first service, age at first lambing, lambing interval, and life lamb crop in ewe were 13.75 ± 2.44, 19.12 ± 2.41, 9.66 ± 1.56, and 6.18 ± 2.01, respectively. The average reproductive life span of ewe and ram was 6.04 ± 1.43 and 6.63 ± 1.49 years, respectively. On average Blackhead Somali ewe delivers 13.1 ± 4.3 lambs in her lifetime. The twinning and triplet rate were recorded to be 12.30% and 1.90%, respectively. Conclusion. In conclusion, shorter lambing intervals, higher adult body weight, and frequent twinning are the most desirable features which may also be used as selection criteria. It is recommended to do further detailed analyses to determine the genetic variation between and within these small populations to develop an effective conservation and utilization program.

Corn stalks are not easily degradable and thus have a low utilization rate. In this paper, a highly efficient corn stalk-degrading microbial consortium, designated as SDP, was established using the strains Z22 (Bacillus subtilis), Z15 (Bacillus megaterium), and Z08 (Aspergillus tubingensis). Moreover, the fermentation conditions for enzyme production by SDP were optimized through orthogonal experiments. The Van Soest method was used to determine the cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents in the degraded corn stalks using the SDP consortium to evaluate its degrading effect. Scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the micromorphological structure changes of the stalks to evaluate the degradation effects of SDP on corn stalks. The carboxymethyl cellulase activity of SDP reached 6.37 U/mL. Moreover, the enzyme production effect was optimal when the culture conditions were as follows: temperature, 30°C; time, 5 d; nitrogen source, NH₄NO₃; and initial pH, 7.0. The SDP consortium showed an improved ability to degrade corn stalks. The cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents were reduced by 32.15%, 23.87%, and 7.98%, respectively, after culturing for 20 d. This study provides insights to guide further research and development of consortia for efficient corn stalk degradation.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are beneficial soil microorganisms that colonize plant roots and enhance plant growth by a wide variety of mechanisms. In this work, five Bacillus and two Cyanobacteria isolates were successfully isolated and characterized. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of PGPR on the growth of three cultivars of rice seedlings. Pots were laid down in a complete random design and 100 ml of spore and Cyanobacteria suspension were poured on the soil surface surrounding each seedling. After 45 days, the seedlings were uprooted and shoot and root parameters were recorded. All the Bacillus and Cyanobacteria isolates showed positive effects on the growth of rice seedlings as compared to control; however, their effectiveness varies from isolate to isolate and also from cultivar to cultivar. Bacterial isolates B3 and B5 showed the highest mean value and statistically significant difference () in most of the root and shoot parameters of cultivars Jegna and Getachew, respectively, as compared to other bacterial isolates. Both cyanobacterial isolates showed the highest and statistically significant difference () in almost all the above ground and underground growth parameters compared to other bacterial isolates in all the three cultivars of rice. Similarly, C2 and C1 recorded the highest growth promotion efficacy of shoot and root length (50.07% and 78.27%) on Edget and Getachew cultivars, respectively. Hence, the present study suggests that the use of PGPR isolates such as B3, B5, C1, and C2 as inoculant biofertilizers might be beneficial for rice cultivation as they enhanced the growth of rice seedlings.

Wheat ranks first in the production and productivity of staple cereal crops in the world. Several diseases, including Stripe (Puccinia striiformis f. Sp. tritici), Black (Puccinia graminis f. Sp. tritici), and Brown (Puccinia recondita), have a major negative impact on wheat output, with 20 to 80% loss annually. Growing rust-resistant varieties is the most durable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly way to combat rust pathogens. In the present review, we provide updated information on all black stem rust, yellow leaf rust, and brown leaf rust resistance genes including chromosomal position, those derived from different sources, nature of resistance type, and amino acid changes done by this gene against rust pathogen. This study summarized the 68 black stem rust, 101 leaf rust, and 108 stripe rust resistance genes from diverse cultivars of wheat and wheat primary and secondary gene pools. This review will be valuable to wheat breeders in cloning rust-resistant genes and developing leaf as well as stem rust-resistant wheat cultivars using gene pyramiding as well as frequency multiplication through introgression of the gene of interest for disease-free, sustainable grain production of wheat. The success of pyramiding genes from other sources to bread wheat depends on the nature of germplasm, the gap between flanking marker and targeted genes, the selection of genotypes in each generation, large number of gentoyes large genotype-environment interaction, etc., which is the future area of study.

In the experimental area, there is a lack of improved maize varieties for green cob production. The experiment was conducted at Efratana gidim woreda Yimlo Kebele FTC-station in the North Shewa zone during the 2017 and 2018 experimental years under irrigation conditions. The objective of the study was to select adaptive, high-green cob yielders and farmers who preferred open-pollinated maize varieties for the lowland areas of North Shewa. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Six nationally released open-pollinated maize, varieties including local check, were evaluated for two subsequent years. The combined analysis of variance showed highly significant () differences for days to anthesis, days to silking, and number of cobs ha⁻¹. In each year, farmers participated and selected the top preferred varieties. During the 2017 experimental year, farmers used a number of cobs per plant, bear tip, cob length, uniformity, husk tip coverage, earliness, and stalk strength as selection criteria, and during the 2018 experimental year, farmers also used cob length, bear tip, earliness, lodging tolerance, and biomass as variety selection criteria. Varieties Melkasa-2 and Melkasa-6Q have been selected in both years. Analysis of variance revealed that both farmers preferred varieties that gave a high number of cobs, which is 46,914 and 41,358 cobs ha⁻¹ for varieties Melkasa-2 and Melkasa-6Q, respectively. Based on this result, varieties Melkasa-2 and Melkasa-6Q were recommended for the North Shewa lowlands and similar agroecology.