Sustaining farming systems for food security and economic growth in Ethiopia

Poster prepared for a share fair, Addis Ababa, May 201

Neurolathyrism in Ethiopia: preliminary data

A 2007 comprehensive preliminary survey in 57 Kebeles, distributed over 7 administrative zones of Ethiopia with grass pea cultivation, identified 1461 cases of neurolathyrism. The aim of the survey was to characterize and learn the neurolathyrism situation from a vast coverage. The area cover of the study can be estimated as more than 3/4th of the disease distribution in the country

Correlation and path coefficient analysis among seed yield and yield related traits of Ethiopian chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) landraces

The experiment was done on 202 new chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) landraces with 2 checks to assess the association, direct and indirect effect of different characters on yield. The experiment was planted at Sirinka and Jari, Ethiopia, under rain fed condition in 2016 using alpha lattice design with three replications. Data were collected on yield and yield related traits. Analysis of variance showed highly significant differences among genotypes. The correlation of grain yield with biomass and with harvest index was positive and highly significant both at genotypic and phenotypic levels. In addition, its association with pod filling period, plant height, secondary branches and hundred seed mass was positive but unsignificant both at genotypic and phenotypic levels. Path coefficient analysis at genotypic level showed that among the 15 causal (independent) traits; biomass, harvest index, pod length, days to pod setting, pod filing period, canopy width, primary branches, secondary branches, and number of pods per plant had positive and directly influence on grain yield. Although the days to flowering, plant height and hundred seed mass had positive genotypic correlation with grain yield. In general correlation coupled with path coefficient analysis revealed that biomass and harvest index had a direct relationship with seed yield.</p

Rapid Generation Advance in Chickpea for Accelerated Breeding Gain in Ethiopia: : What Speed Breeding Imply?

አህፅሮት &nbsp;ሽምብራ በሀገራችን በተለያዩ ስነ-ምህዳራትና የአዘማመር ስርዓት ውስጥ የሚመረት ሰብል ነው፡፡ የሰብሉ የመድረሻ ተለያይነት በዓለም ላይ ከ80 አስከ 180 ቀናት ይደርሳል፡፡ እያደገ ያለውን ህዝብና የተለያዩ ፍላጎቶችን ለመመለስ የሰብል ማሻሻያ ስርዓቱ ጊዜን በቆጠበ ሁኔታ መከወን የሚያስችሉ ዘዴዎችን መጠቀሙ አንዱ የችግሩ መፍቻ መንገድ ነው፡፡ በዚህ ጥናት ላይ የሰብሉን ማሻሻያ ለማፍጠን እንዴት በርካታ ትውልዶቸን በአንድ ዓመት ማግኘት እንደሚቻል ቀርቧል፡፡ አስር የሚሆኑ ምርት ላይ ያሉ የሽምብራ ዝርያዎችን ከሌሎች ዘጠኝ በዘመናዊ ላብራቶሪ ልየታ ድርቅን የሚቋቋም ባህሪ ያላቸውን ቤተሰቦቸ በማዳቀል ሂደት ወደ 46 ግንኙነቶችን መፍጠር የተቻለበትንና ትውልዶችን ማፍጠንንና ማግኘትን በትኩረት ተከናውኗል፡፡ ዓላማውም ድርቅን የሚቋቋሙና ምርታማ ትውልዶችን ፍተሻ ማድረግ ሲሆን ይህንንም ባጭር ጊዜ ውስጥ ለመከወን አዲስ የነጠላ ዘር ትውልድ ማሻገሪያ ስርዓትን ከቀድሞ ደራሽ እምቡጦች ጋር በማቀናጀት አራት ትውልዶችን በዓመት ማግኘት የተቻለበትን ሁኔታ ማረጋገጥ ተችሏል፡፡ ይህ ትውልዶችን የማስኬድ ሁኔታ በአንድ አመት ጊዜ ውስጥ በወረርና የደብረዘይት ማእከላት የሙከራ ማሳዎችን በመጠቀም የተሰራ ጥናት ሲሆን በውጤቱም ቀድሞ ደራሽ እምቡጦችን ለማግኘት ከ80-85 ቀናት ብቻ የፈጀ ነበር፡፡ ትውልዶቹ የመካከለኛ መድረሻ ጊዜ ያለው ውስጥ የሚመደቡ ሲሆን በዚህ ስሌት የዝርያ መልቀቂያ ጊዜውን ከተለመደው 10-12 ዓመታት 50 በመቶ በመቀነስ የአማራጭ ቴክኖሎጂ አቅርቦትና ምርታማነት እንዲሁም አዋጭነት ላይ ከፍተኛ አስተዋፅዖ ያለው ውጤት አመላክቷል፡፡ ይህ ቴክኒክ በቶሎ የመድረሻ ዕድሜ ያላቸው ላይ ተፅዕኖው አስከ ስድስት ትውልድ በዓመት ማስገኘት እንደሚያስችል የተሰላ ሲሆን በቀላሉ የሚለመድ፣ በጥቂት የመዋዕለ ነዋይ፣ ፋሲሊቲና ክህሎት በትሮፒካል ንፍቀ-ክበብ ውስጥ አገልግሎት ላይ ሊውል የሚችልና ቴክኖሎጂ ለቀቃን ብሎም መተካካትን የሚያፋጥን፤ በዚህም ረገድ የምርታማነት እመርታን የሚያስገኝ የተሻሻለ ዘዴ እንደሆነ መገንዘብ ተችሏል፡፡ Abstract Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is grown in a wide range of environments and cropping systems and its maturity ranges from 80 to 180 days. Time-saving breeding is key to responding to the dynamics of demands and environmental changes. The study employed the Single Seed Descent (SSD) technique in advancing the generation, supported by the independent observation of chickpea seed germination and seedling establishment in the seed lab. The filial generation nursery was derived from 46 initial crosses with the aim of enhancing drought and yield response of otherwise commercial 10 cultivars. Between 5 December 2017 and 20 December 2018 we were able to obtain four rounds of working chickpea seeds (F2-F5) using two research locations. The average time required to obtain early matured pods varied from 80 to 85 days. Harvesting four generations in an annual cycle enables a saving of at least 50% time in variety release, which has the potential to double the rate of genetic gain and variety replacement. As long as measures are taken to reduce risk associated with extreme weather events or animal damage, this low-cost rapid cycling approach could be adapted for large-scale breeding programs to fast track the development of more productive varieties

Response of chickpea to varying moisture stress conditions in Ethiopia

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an economically important crop grown by nearly one million Ethiopian smallholder farmers. The crop is often considered as “stress-loving,” but moisture stress at flowering and grain filling stages could be detrimental. Yield of chickpea is commonly affected by terminal drought stress in the rainfed production system in Ethiopia. The lack of proper field-screening methods has hindered the development of drought-tolerant varieties. This study demonstrates a simple and practical field-level screening method for drought tolerance traits in the conventional breeding programs. A field experiment was conducted using 28 elite chickpea cultivars during the 2018–2019 main cropping season to study their response to moisture regimes of varying drought intensities. We used yield and its components as proxy parameters of screening to select tolerant cultivars. The study revealed significant variation among the cultivars in their response to different moisture regimes. The kabuli cultivars were found more sensitive compared with the desi types. Yield penalty exceeded 70% under severe drought. Conversely, cultivars tested under mild and severe stress drought showed average yield gain of 22 and 48%, respectively, relative to the irrigated treatment. Overall, over 50% yield gain can be obtained in drought-affected rainfed production areas in Ethiopia using supplemental irrigation during pod setting to grain filling stages. For post-rainy-season crops relying on residual soil moisture, such as chickpea, breeding for shorter duration and resilient cultivars are reliable management approaches to minimize drought-caused yield losses

Breeding Progress for Grain Yield and Yield Related Characters of Kabuli Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) in Ethiopia Using Regression Analysis

The genetic progress in seed yield and yield related characters of 10 kabuli chickpea varieties released by the Ethiopian Chickpea Crop Improvement Program from 1974 to 2017 was assessed during the main cropping season. The varieties were evaluated in the Randomized Complete Block design at Debrezeit Agricultural Research Center experimental research farm. The overall increase in seed yield over the local check, DZ-10-4, was estimated to be 739 kg/ha (38.9%). On station grain yield increased from 1900 to 3250 kg/ha during the last 43 years and the overall increase in seed yield of the Arerti variety over the oldest variety DZ-10-4 was estimated to be 1350 kg/ha or 71.1%. Based on the regression analysis, the estimated average annual rate of increase in grain yield potential was 10.87kg/ha/year with an annual relative genetic change of 0.57%/year. Genotypic change was an important source for increased grain yield potential during the studied period. Positive genetic gains were observed for the yield traits (grain yield and yield components). The average cumulative gains over 43 years of breeding was, therefore, 445.67 kg (23.37%) for seed yield, and 30.26 g for hundred seeds weight (297.7%). Hundred seed weight revealed the most dramatic response to breeding for the last 43 years. It is, therefore, strategically advisable that breeding efforts in the future should give due attention to yield related traits of kabuli chickpea varieties

Affordable and robust phenotyping framework to analyse root system architecture of soil-grown plants

The phenotypic analysis of root system growth is important to inform efforts to enhance plant resource acquisition from soils. However, root phenotyping still remains challenging due to soil opacity, requiring systems that facilitate root system visibility and image acquisition. Previously reported systems require costly or bespoke materials not available in most countries, where breeders need tools to select varieties best adapted to local soils and field conditions. Here, we report an affordable soil‐based growth (rhizobox) and imaging system to phenotype root development in greenhouses or shelters. All components of the system are made from locally available commodity components, facilitating the adoption of this affordable technology in low‐income countries. The rhizobox is large enough (~6000 cm2 visible soil) to not restrict vertical root system growth for most if not all of the life cycle, yet light enough (∼21 kg when filled with soil) for routine handling. Support structures and an imaging station, with five cameras covering the whole soil surface, complement the rhizoboxes. Images are acquired via the Phenotiki sensor interface, collected, stitched and analysed. Root system architecture (RSA) parameters are quantified without intervention. RSA of a dicot (chickpea, Cicer arietinum L.) and a monocot (barley, Hordeum vulgare L.) species, which exhibit contrasting root systems, were analysed. Insights into root system dynamics during vegetative and reproductive stages of the chickpea lifecycle were obtained. This affordable system is relevant for efforts in Ethiopia and other low‐ and middle‐income countries to sustainably enhance crop yields and climate resilience

Post-harvest management and associated food losses and by-products of cassava in southern Ethiopia

Improved (high yield and disease resistant) cassava varieties were introduced into Ethiopia around the onset of the twenty-first century, as a potential food security crop. At present, limited information is available from the country on post-production aspects of the value chain (VC) and related food losses. The lack of such data prevents policymakers and VC actors from taking steps towards improving VC efficiencies, which can have a significant impact on livelihoods and food security. The focus of this study was to examine the prevailing post-harvest practices in the cassava VC in southern Ethiopia and quantify the extent of food losses and associated by-products in the framework of the recently developed ‘food loss and waste protocol’. The majority of the cassava in the study area was processed into dry chips and milled into a composite flour with teff and maize to prepare the staple bread (injera). ‘Critical loss points’ were during sun-drying (4%) and stockpiling at farm and marketplace (30–50%). Insect pest damage was primarily responsible for food losses at farm and market level. The most important insect species infesting dry cassava were identified during the survey. As far as the by-products were concerned, the ratio of leaf:wood (stem and stump):starchy root on a dry matter basis at harvest was 1:6:10. Further emphasis should be on improving processing and storage technologies to reduce food losses and the better recovery and utilisation of by-products, especially the leaves of cassava, which could be a potential source of protein in human diets