Role of Agronomic Practices in Buffering Impacts of Climatic Change on Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Productivity

This review was focused on agronomic practices influenced negative impacts of climate change. Coffee is the only crop which more than 25 million people in the world depend on, and the second most important commodity next to oil. However, in recent decades, coffee production has been influenced by severity of climatic changes. Agronomic practices have great function in sustain coffee production due to their attribution in buffering climatic change. Thus, this review conducted with the intension of agronomic practices task in buffering of climatic change impacts in coffee production and productivity. Because of climate change, the optimum production zone for coffee is projected to decrease up to 40% and at the end of this century, temperature will rise by 4-6°C. This severity and hazardless will tremendous in developing countries which extremely vulnerable to the risk. Furthermore, deforestation due to over population and absence of awareness in agroforestry are another problem increases the risk of climate change. Familiarity of contributions of agronomic practices in mitigating climate change is less recognizing and practiced informally than  improve and scientific way.  However, shading has capacity to reduce air temperature by 4°C, banana intercropping with coffee contributed as sources of income in off season for coffee yield. Finally, agronomic practices such as shading, mulching, irrigation, intercropping, pruning and soil conservation practices are the best option for sustaining coffee production and for buffering the direct and indirect impacts of climatic changes. Keywords: Agronomic practices, buffering, Climate change, Coffee arabica DOI: 10.7176/DCS/10-12-03 Publication date: December 31st 202

Review on the Management of Coffee Berry Disease (colletotrichum kahawae) in Ethiopia

Coffee (Coffae Arabica L.) is the major source of currency for Ethiopia and contributes more than 35% of the total export earnings. It is originated in Ethiopia. Coffee belongs to the family Rubiacea and the genus Coffea. The two main species of coffee cultivated on a world scale are Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica L.) and Robusta coffee (Coffea anaphora L.), which account for about 98-99% of the world coffee production. Even if the high production potential and economic importance of coffee production and productivity of crop is still limited due to its major disease; that is coffee berry disease which caused by Colletotrichum kahawae .It was first detected in 1922 in Kenya and covered all the main coffee growing areas of the country by 1951. The disease has been recorded to cause up to 80% yield loss, but on susceptible cultivar under favorable environment, 100% loose occur.  Because of the seriousness of the problem two control measures under taken to coffee berry disease in Ethiopia, namely fungicide spraying and planting coffee varieties resistance to coffee berry disease. Therefore, the main objective of this seminar paper is to review on the management of coffee berry disease (colletotrichum kahawae) under Ethiopian condition

A Detailed Review on Common Causes of Postharvest Loss and Quality Deterioration of Fruits and Vegetables in Ethiopia

The loss of foods in the post-harvest system is not new; it has always been a problem for mankind. In these days of rapidly enlarging population in the developing countries of the world where food is already short, there is an increasing urgency to do a better job of conserving mankind food supply in order to alleviate hunger and malnutrition. Losses of fruit and vegetables are occurring from the field to the fork and even pre-harvest practices are strongly affects the magnitude of losses that occur at a later stage. Postharvest loss is the issue of food security in many developing countries like Ethiopia and it is the concerns of all people. Severe fruits and vegetables postharvest loss and quality deterioration mainly occurred during harvesting, marketing, transporting, processing and storage which leads to reduction in producers out puts, unavailability of food, malnutrition, effects on the economy of the people and the country. There is high magnitude of loss in fruits and vegetables crops as compared to other due to the nature of the crops. Many scientific studies were reported that numerous causes and the extent of the loss particularly, in fruits and vegetables. This might be because of financial, managerial and technical knowledge limitations in harvesting techniques, storage and cooling facilities in difficult climatic conditions, infrastructure, packaging and marketing systems. In order to minimize these problems, the appropriate agricultural techniques such as the general principles of extending shelf-life of these crops must be put in place. There should be proper management of temperature, humidity and effective methods for preventing these losses. Since most national governments acknowledge that postharvest food losses is complex, therefore, it requires a commitment to an integrated approach, involving numerous organizations, including local communities and groups. As a general, this can be used as a good indication as all concerned bodies should aim for development of effective and efficient policies and strategies to solve existing problems. So the main objective of this review is to find out the concepts and problems of post-harvest food losses in perishable crops. Keywords: Ethiopia, Fruits, Postharvest loss, Quality deterioration, Vegetables DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/9-7-07 Publication date: April 30th 201

Review on the Agronomic Management Practices of Garlic (Allium sativum L.)

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) belongs to the family of Alliaceae. Other crops in this family are Onion (A.cepa L.), Leek (A. ameloprisum), Shallot (A. asacloncum L) and Chile (A. schoenoprasum L). Garlic is the second most widely used of cultivated bulb crops after Onion. It is an erect annual herb that can reach a height of 75cm- 90cm and grows during dry and middle winter season (Brewster, 1994). Garlic is believed to have originated in central Asia (India, Afghanistan, West China, Russia, etc) and spread to other part of the world through trades and colonization (Purse glove, 1972 and Tindall, 1986). According to FAO (2001), production of garlic stood at about 10 million tones per annual which is only about 10% that of bulb onion. China is the largest producer followed by South Korea. The world average yield of garlic is about 10 per hector, but it can go up to 19 per hector. World garlic cultivation was increased from 771,000 ha of 1989/90 to 1,204, 711 ha of land in 2007 with total production from 6.5 million tones and productivity from 8.43tone per hector to 13.02 tones per hector respectively. While, in Ethiopia the total area under cultivation or production of garlic in 2006/07 reached 7,266 ha and the production is estimated to be over 683,000 quintals (MOARD, 2007). It is rich in sugar, protein, fat, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, iodine, fiber, and silicon, in addition it contains vitamins. It is pungent flavor makes it is used mainly as spices, seasoning and flavoring for food. Its medicinal value is also well recognized in the control and treatment of hypertension, worms, germs, bacteria and fungal disease, diabetes, cancer, ulcer, rheumatism etc.dehydrated garlic and extracts are fast replacing fresh bulbs for industrial and home usage in the production 0f drug, insecticide and explosives (Purse glove, 1972). According to Shanmugarelv et al (20010), this bulbs crop is another foreign exchange earner for India. Compound bulbs contain the edible products of these crops. A group of small segments or cloves is surrounded by a thin, white or pinkish sheath. The flavor of the cloves is stronger and pungent than other crops of bulbs. Garlic is different from onion in that in stead of producing one large bulb, it produces a group of small bulb called cloves. But seeds stalk is similar to that of onion and bears both seeds and bullets in the same head. The foliage of garlic is flattened rather than hallow like that onion. It is also grouped in the family alliaceous, a genus allium, because of its superior ovary. It was along time included in the family of liliaceous but was later shifted by some botanists to the family amaryllidaceous, as flowers are born on branched umbel on top of scalp. To prevent confusion the onion is placed now in the family alliaceae

Postharvest Loss Assessment of Banana(Musa spp.) at Jimma Town Market

Postharvest  losses of banana in the supply chain with the total loss found to be 26.5% of  which more percent of the total loss being at the retail market (64.10%) and wholesale level (35.90%). Mechanical damage followed by improper transport and improper storage were identified as the main causes of banana loss at wholesale level while fruit rotting followed by improper ripening  and mechanical damage  were identified as the main causes to the loss of banana fruit at retail level.As a results , the current postharvest management system of banana both at wholesale and retail levels is inadequate. The postharvest management of banana has not been given sufficient attention in the area hence, fruit handlers lack information about postharvest handling practices. It was also observed that there is a knowledge gap between the respondents in their experience of proper fruit handling techniques. Therefore, to reduce the level of postharvest losses of banana in jimma market, focus should be given to postharvest handling practices. The loss can be minimized by awareness creation, education and training about the importance of postharvest losses, adopting better management operations, careful handling and packaging to the supply chain actors. Keywords: Cause of post harvest losses, Post harvest loss ,Post harvest management DOI: 10.7176/FSQM/119-01 Publication date:September 30th 202

Effects of Different Level of Nitrogen Fertilizer Application on Growth, Yield, Quality and Storage Life of Onion (Allium cepa L.) at Jimma, South Western Ethiopia

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops produced in Ethiopia. Yield and productivity of the crop has been far below the regional and national standards owing to several factors; absence of location specific fertilizer recommendation being the major among others. In Ethiopia, post harvest loss of vegetables contributed up to 30% yield reduction. Thus, a field experiment was conducted at Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Research field during dry season to study the effects of Nitrogen fertilizer application on growth, yield, quality and storage life of irrigated onion under Jimma condition, South Western Ethiopia. The treatments consisted of four levels of Nitrogen (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N ha-1) that laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Data on growth, yield, bulb quality and storage life parameters were recorded and analyzed using GenStat 12.1 version computer soft ware packages. Results of the study revealed that; Nitrogen fertilizer applications had shown a highly significant effect on growth, yield and quality of onion. Similarly, the keeping qualities of the Onion bulbs are highly influenced by application of N at different levels. Excessive application of Nitrogen fertilizer caused higher bulb rots (%); bulb sprouts (%) and weight loss (%) during the three month storage time at ambient temperature. This can be recommended for use by potential onion investors or farmers in the study area. Keywords: Growth, Nitrogen, Onion, Quality, Storage life, Yield. DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/9-10-05 Publication date:May 31st 201