Effect of Application of Farmyard Manure and Gypsum on Saline Sodic Soils of Raya Alamata District, Northern Ethiopia

A field experiment was conducted in Raya Alamata district, northern Ethiopia  to investigate the effect of sole and combined application of FYM and gypsum on saline sodic soils on yield of sorghum by supplying different rates of farmyard manure (FYM) and/or gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O) application alone or both mixtures using a randomized complete block design for three consecutive years. The treatment used included: control, three FYM rates alone, two gypsum rates alone and six combination of FYM and gypsum with a total of 12 treatments. Each treatment was replicated three times to yield 36 experimental plots. The result indicated that, there was no significant difference between treatments in the first and second year of cropping season. However, the effect the amendments were shown in the third year of the cropping season, and hence, the treatment effect of the combined application of FYM and gypsum were more effective and improved soil properties and increased the yield of sorghum. In addition, compared to all other treatments, the combined application of 4 tha-1 FYM + 100% GR followed by  8 tha-1 FYM + 100% GR resulted the highest grain yield of sorghum  and reduced the sodium induced hazards than all other treatments. Hence, it is recommended as the best treatment in the improvement of saline  sodic soils of the district. Keywords: Gypsum; Farmyard manure; Sorghum; Soil amendment; Soil properties DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/12-22-02 Publication date: November 30th 2021

Evaluation of Sorghum for Salt Stress Tolerance Using Different Stages as Screening Tool in Raya Valley, Northern Ethiopia

አህፅሮት የአፈር ጨዋማነት በሰብሎች ላይ አሉታዊ ተፅዕኖ በመፍጠር ምርትና ምርታማነትን እንዲቀንስ ያደርጋል፡፡ በመሆኑም በራያ ተፋሰስ ይህ መነሻ በማድረግ የአፈር ጨዋማነትን ተቋቁመው የተሻለ ምርትና ምርታማነት ሊሰጡ የሚችሉ  የማሽላ ዝርያዎችን ከተለያዩ ማሽላ ኣብቃይ ከሆኑ አከባቢዎች በመሰብሰብ  የተለያዩ የጨው መጠን  (0, 10, 15 and 20 dS m-1) በመለካት በቤተ ጥናት ግሪንሃዉስ ተዘርቶ ከዚህ በማጣራት ደሞ ጨዋማ በሆነ መሬት ላይ በመዝራት ጨዋማነቱን በመም የተሻለ የመብቀል እና ምርት መስጠት የሚችሉ የማሽላ ዝርያዎች እንዲለዩ ተደርገዋል፡፡ ይህን የሚያመላክተዉ የአፈር ጨዋማነት እየጨመረ በሄደ ቁጥር የማሽላን የመብቀል አቅምና አጠቃላይ እድገቱን ይቀንሳል፡፡ በተመሳሳይ መልኩ የአፈር ጨዋማነት እየጨመረ በሄደ ቁጥር የማሽላን ምርትና ምርታማነቱን ይቀንሳል፡፡ ስለዚህ ሜኮ እና 76T1 ቁጥር 23 የተባሉ የማሽላ ዝርያዎች ለአከባቢው የአፈር ጨዋማነትን ተቋቁመው የተሻለ ምርትና ምርታማነትን ይጨምራሉ፡፡ በመሆኑም እነዚህን ሁለቱ የማሽላ ዝርያዎች ወደ ገበሬ ከመግባታቸው በፊት ሰፊ በሆኑ ማሳዎች ላይ ለገበሬዎች  የሰርቶ ማሳያ እና የማስተዋወቅ ስራ ሊሰራባቸው ይገባል፡፡     Abstract Salinity is one of the major environmental problem that lead to deterioration of agricultural land and, as a result, to reduction in crop productivity. Evaluation of sorghum varieties/lines for salt tolerance were conducted with the objectives to evaluate and identify salinity stress tolerance and to determine the effect of salinity at different levels of NaCl in Raya valley, northern Ethiopia. The screening procedures were conducted at three stages; germination, seedling and field experiment through exposing to salt stress condition. Initially, 46 varieties/lines of sorghum were placed in Petri plates using 0 and 20 dS m-1 level of NaCl and better performing were selected based on their total germination percentage and germination stress tolerance index. Then, control (0 dS m-1) and three salinity levels (10, 15 and 20 dS m-1) of NaCl were prepared at germination and seedling stages. Results indicated that, all investigated traits were affected by salt stress at germination and seedling stages. Similarly, soil salinity reduced yield and yield components of sorghum at field experiments. Both Meko and 76T1#23 were more yielded than the national average compared to the tested sorghum varieties in the two consecutive cropping seasons. Thus, Meko and 76T1#23 were promising varieties as indicated by all investigated traits and hence, recommended for yield and yield traits maximization Raya valley. Therefore, these varieties should be validated and demonstrated to more numbers of farmers in larger plots to recommend to extension users.&nbsp

Impact of Vachellia etbaica on soil properties and socioeconomic benefits in Tigray Ethiopia

Author’s accepted manuscript (postprint). This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Springer Nature in Agroforestry Systems on 28/3/2025, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-025-01173-0.acceptedVersio

The Effects of Human Resource Development Practices in Enhancing Employee Satisfaction: In Case of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia Jimma District

Employee satisfaction with regard to HRD practices are one of the most important challenges that public service industries are facing in currently competitive market and HRD practices are found to be most important factor for creating satisfaction among employees. Many studies have been conducted to determine predictors of employee satisfaction but these studies not focused at regional level. CBE similar to the other organizations attempt to increase employee job satisfaction. In this regard, HRDP can have a critical role. Among different HRD practices, this study focused on training and development, career development and organizational development. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess employees’ satisfaction with HRD practices on training and development, career development and organizational development elements in Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) of Jimma town. the population of the study covered the entire 500 permanent staffs and the sample size of 220 employees were drawn through random sampling method with the combination of simple random sampling technique. self-administered questionnaires and interviews were used as a primary data source while other relevant documents and literature reviews were used as secondary data and analyzed with descriptive statics (mean and frequency) and inferential statics (correlation and regression). Accordingly, the findings revealed that the organization has poor HRD practices that show below average level of employees’ satisfaction. The results from Pearson Correlation test demonstrated that there is a significant and positive relationship between predictors and dependent variables while the Multiple Regression analysis revealed that the two variables called training and development and career development are an effective predictors while organization development is not effective predicator of the dependent variable in this model. Moreover, the three HR development variables such as training and development and career development have significant effect on employee satisfaction and organizational development have a less effect on employee job satisfactions

The Effect of Training & Development On Employees Performance: In The Case Of Jimma University

The study focused on the effect of training and development on employees’ performance at Jimma University. The overall objective of the study is to determine the effect of training and development on employees’ performance. The study adopted mixed approach and used both primary and secondary data sources. The primary data collected from Jimma University through self-administered questionnaire for 383 selected experts and middle level managers through simple random sampling technique and semi-structured interview question employed for human resource director and training coordinator through interview. The collected data were analyzed by using statistical tools (SPSS-Version 20). Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the data analysis. The descriptive statistics such as frequency, percent, mean and standard deviation were used for describing the demographic characteristics of respondents and the dependent and independent variables. The inferential statistics like Pearson correlation coefficient(r) and simple linear regression were used to determine if there is relationship existed between independent and dependent variables (training development and employees’ performance. The findings indicated that training and development were positively correlated and claimed statistically significant relationship with employees’ performance. The study concluded that training and development have positive effect on employees’ performance. The findings of the study indicated that there was effective training and development practices of the study’ consequently the result disclosed the given training and development processes have been systematic. Hence, the researcher recommended that the top Management and other training coordinators should pay attention to the employees training and developments and evaluate the results periodically and evaluate training program based on the objectives of the trainin

Effects of wheat and faba bean intercropping on yield, land-use efficiency and economic revenue in semi-arid areas

Author’s accepted manuscript (postprint). This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by American Society of Agronomy in Agronomy Journal on 27/2/2025, available online: https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.70031.This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by American Society of Agronomy in Agronomy Journal on 27/2/2025.Available online: https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.70031.acceptedVersio

Remote sensing reveals how armed conflict regressed woody vegetation cover and ecosystem restoration efforts in Tigray (Ethiopia)

In recent years, armed conflicts are globally on the rise, causing drastic human and environmental harm. The Tigray war in Ethiopia is one of the recent violent conflicts that has abruptly reversed decades of ecosystem restoration efforts. This paper analyzes changes in woody vegetation cover during the period of armed conflict (2020–2022) using remote sensing techniques, supplemented by field testimony and secondary data. Extent of woody vegetation cover was analyzed using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) thresholding method from Sentinel 2 images in Google Earth Engine, and scale of de-electrification was qualitatively analyzed from Black Marble HD nighttime lights dataset, acquired from NASA's Black Marble team. The magnitude, direction as well as the mechanisms of change in woody vegetation cover varied across the region and over time. Tigray's woody vegetation cover fluctuated within 20% of the landmass. Mainly scattered to mountainous areas, the dry Afromontane forest cover declined from about 17% in 2020 to 15% in 2021, and 12% in 2022. About 17% of the overall decline was observed between 500 m and 2000 m elevation, where there is higher anthropogenic pressure. Land restoration practices meant to avert land degradation and desertification were interrupted and the area turned warfare ground. In many areas, forests were burned, the trees cut and the area became barren. The suspension of public services such as electricity for household or industrial use created heavy reliance on firewood and charcoal, further threatening to compound weather and climate. The magnitude of disturbance in a region that is already at a very high risk of desertification requires urgent national and international attention. Continued ecosystem disturbance could eventually make the domain part of a wider desert connecting the Sahel to the Afar Triangle, a scenario which may render the area uninhabitable.</p

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead