In vitro Erythrocyte Haemolysis Inhibition Properties of Senna singueana Extracts

Both leaves and bark of Senna singueana (Del.) Lock(Fabaceae) are traditionally used, in some parts of Ethiopia, for the treatment of a form of skin cancer. Also the inner bark of the plant is chewed fresh to soothe stomach spasm and smoke from the wood and bark is used as smoke baths. The objective of this work was to study the antioxidant properties, of this plant using an erythrocyte haemolysis inhibition assay, because one way to justify the traditional anticancer uses can be through the concept of antioxidant effect. Crude extracts from leaves and bark of S. singueana were prepared by maceration with 80% methanol. Fractions were prepared from both leaves and bark using solvents of different polarity (diethyl ether, chloroform, and 80% methanol). The 80% methanol fraction was partitioned using ethyl acetate. These crude extracts and solvent fractions were then evaluated for their capacity to inhibit H2O2 induced erythrocyte haemolysis. Also to evaluate the presence of any intrinsic haemolysis inducing constituents such as saponins, foaming index determination and preliminary haemolysis activity determination tests were performed on extracts from the bark and leaves of the plant. The results revealed that the ethyl acetate solvent fraction from the bark of S. singueana exhibited concentration dependent erythrocyte haemolysis inhibitory activity, with an IC50 value of 233 µg/ml. However, the other solvent fractions and crude extracts did not show meaningful haemolysis inhibitory activity. The results of the foaming index determination and preliminary haemolysis activity determination tests showed the presence of saponins; but, none of the dilutions of the extracts showed any visible haemolysis activity compared to H2O2, used as a control. The results of the ethyl acetate solvent fraction from the bark of the plant could indicate the possible presence of constituents that can inhibit erythrocyte haemolysis, which in turn, could be due to lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity.Keywords: Senna singueana, Extracts, Haemolysis Inhibition, Antioxidan

Growth, Yield and Yield Component of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) as Affected by Timing of Nitrogen Application

Sesame is an important cash crop and plays vital role in the livelihood of many people in Ethiopia. Nitrogen plays a key role in sesame production and it is required in large amount by any crop more than any mineral nutrient. Nitrogen timing is important crop management practices for improving N use efficiency and crop yields. Field experiment was conducted in northern Ethiopia during the rainy season of 2012 with the objective to evaluate the yield and yield response of sesame to nitrogen fertilizer application timings. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments consisted of nine nitrogen application timings viz. 100% of the recommended dose at planting time (T1), 100% of the recommended dose at first branching stage (T2), 100% of the recommended dose at early flower initiation (T3), 100% of the recommended dose at early pod setting (T4), 50% of the recommended dose at planting time and 50% of the recommended dose at first branching stage (T5), 50% of the recommended dose at planting time and 50% of the recommended dose at early flower initiation (T6), 50% of the recommended dose at planting time and 50% of the recommended dose at early pod setting (T7), 50% of the recommended dose at first branching stage and 50% of the recommended dose at early flower initiation (T8), 50% of the recommended at first branching stage and 50% of the recommended at early pod setting (T9). Results revealed that number of branches per plant, plant height, length of capsule bearing zone, number of capsules per plant and seed yield were significantly (p< 0.05) influenced by different time of nitrogen application treatments. The maximum values of the parameters, except grain yield, were obtained from T5 application timing. At the same time, the highest sesame seed yield per hectare was obtained from T8 application timings.  Keywords: Sesame, Sesamum indicum L., nitrogen fertilizer, Nitrogen application timings, seed yield

Tuta Absoluta: A Global Looming Challenge in Tomato Production, Review Paper

Tomato is very important vegetable crop of the world. It is consumed as fresh table tomato and as raw material for food processing industries. However, the production of this important vegetable crop is facing unprecedented challenge from South American originated pest known by the local name tomato leaf miner and scientific name Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). Tomato leaf miner is a devastating pest of tomato and other Solanaceous crops in many vegetable crop growing areas around the world. Despite its recent introduction, it has become a major economical pest of both outdoor and greenhouse tomatoes in the Middle East, Mediterranean basin of Europe and North and Eastern Africa. Under heavy infestation yield loss in the range of 80-100% is common. Regarding its life cycle, this pest has high rate of reproduction and short life cycle. The damaging stage of tomato leaf miner is the larval stage. After egg hatching, the larvae make a way into tomato fruits, leaves, flower buds and young shoots on which they feed and develop creating mines and galleries. Key words: Tuta absoluta; tomato, Distribution, Chemical control, Bio-control, Damag

The association between alcohol consumption and self-rated health among adult Norwegian women. A cross-sectional study from the Norwegian Women and Cancer (NOWAC) cohort

Abstract Background: After 1985, the proportion of women who drink alcohol in Norway has increased, narrowing the gender gap in alcohol consumption. In Norway, more women now drink alcohol than before. There is little evidence of an association between alcohol consumption and self-rated health (SRH) in Norwegian women. Therefore, this study aimed at the association between alcohol consumption and SRH in Norwegian women aged 30 to 70 years. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 172, 472 Norwegian women aged 30 to 70 years, using data from the Norwegian Women and Cancer (NOWAC) cohort. This study only focused on wave 1 from 1991 to 2008. We used multinomial logistic regression to analyze the association between alcohol consumption and SRH. In addition, we adjusted the analysis separately for age and then for multivariable (age, educational status, cigarette smoking, BMI, physical activity). We further stratified the adjusted models based on educational status. Results: This study found that alcohol nonconsumption was positively associated with poor health, with an odds ratio of 1.64 and a 95% confidence interval of 1.56 to 1.73. High alcohol consumption was positively associated with excellent health with an odds ratio of 1.21 and a 95% confidence interval of 1.16 to 1.26. The positive association between alcohol nondrinking and poor health by educational status was stronger among women with higher levels of education. Conclusion: Women who drank high amounts of alcohol were positively associated with good SRH, and women who did not drink alcohol were positively associated with poor SRH. Because this study was cross-sectional, it is not possible to determine the direction of the association. Therefore, future prospective longitudinal studies are needed to investigate causality. Keywords: Self-rated health, Alcohol, Alcohol consumptio

Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAPs) in Northern Ghana : Impacts on Welfare, Environmental Reliance, and Agricultural Land Expansion

Sustainable agriculture has become an important issue in the development-policy agenda in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), as a major avenue to simultaneously raise smallholder agricultural productivity and enhance climate change adaptation and mitigation. Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAPs) are believed to play a vital role in addressing these issues while improving households' welfare. While literature provides robust evidence on the welfare impacts of SAPs in isolation, there is limited evidence on how combinations of SAPs contribute to households' welfare. Furthermore, previous experimental studies show that SAPs can reduce environmental footprints of agriculture by conserving organic matter, nitrogen fixation, increasing water infiltration, reducing soil erosion. However, the effect of SAPs on environmental outcomes such as household's reliance on environmental products and cropland expansion into forest areas is not well addressed. To shed light on these issues, we investigate the adoption and impacts of SAPs on welfare and environmental outcomes using a cross-sectional survey data collected from 421 household and 1229 plots from the Upper East Region of Ghana. The thesis comprises three primary chapters. In the first chapter, we estimate the adoption and impacts of different combinations of SAPs on crop income per acre and consumption expenditure per capita as welfare outcomes. It is found that adoption decisions are affected by household and plot characteristics. The adoption of SAPs either in isolation or in combinations significantly increases welfare. SAPs are however found to have a stronger effect when adopted as a package rather than in isolation. The effects of SAPs on households' environmental reliance are analysed in the second chapter. From the results, it is found that, on average, income from environmental resources account for about 30% of total household income. The adoption of different combinations of SAPs is found to reduce per capita environmental income by 7 to 15%. In addition, the adoption of different combinations of SAPs reduces the share of environmental income in total household income by 20 to 72%. The effect is higher when SAPs are adopted in combination than in isolation, confirming the synergistic effects of SAPs in reducing environmental pressure. In the third chapter, we analyse the effects of SAPs on cropland expansion into forest areas. It is found that about 20% of the households expanded their cropland into forest areas within the 12 months prior to the survey date and cleared about 0.21 acres on average. From the results of a two-stage churdel double hurdle model regression, we find no direct evidence of SAPs-induced cropland expansion into forest areas. In conclusion, this study provides empirical evidence on the adoption and welfare effects of different combinations of SAPs. Furthermore, this study extends the previous literature by analyzing the effects of SAPs on environmental outcomes, i.e., environmental reliance and cropland expansion into forest areas. This analysis helps us to understand if there are positive or negative 'indirect environmental benefits' of SAPs to the already known biophysical and economic benefits at the farm and household levels. It is found that SAPs have positive impacts on crop income and consumption expenditure and reduce environmental resources extraction (as a livelihood strategy). Recognition and promotion of SAPs from both welfare and environmental outcome perspectives could therefore prove worthwhile

Valuation of Soil Conservation Practices in Adwa Woreda, Ethiopia: A Contingent Valuation Study

Soil degradation is one of the most serious environmental problems in the high­lands of Ethiopia. The prevalence of traditional agricultural land use and the absence of appropriate resource management often result in the degradation of natural soil fertility in the country. Thus, in this study we have attempted to investigate the value that the farmers have attached to soil conservation practices and the determinants of willingness to pay for it using a Contingent Valuation Method. In the CVM survey, Double Bounded Dichotomous Choice format with an open ended follow up was used to elicit the households’ willingness to pay. Based on data collected from 218 respondents, probit model was employed to assess the determinants of willingness to pay. The model shows that age, sex, education level, family size, perception, tenure, Total Livestock Units and initial bid were the important variables in determining willingness to pay for soil conservation practices in the study area. Our study also shows that the mean willingness to pay (WTP) estimated from the Double Bounded Dichotomous Choice format was computed at 56.65 person days per household per annum. The respective total aggregate value of soil conservation in the study area (Adwa Woreda) was computed to be 1 373 592 person days per annum, which is equivalent to 16 483 104 Ethiopian Birr. Therefore, if new intervention program for soil conservation is to be implemented, policy makers should consider those factors for better results. In Our study, we found very few protest zeros only (1.8%) which shows CVM is suitable method for valuing non marketed goods in less developing countries like Ethiopia. Keywords: Contingent Valuation Method, Willingness to Pay, Soil Conservation, Double Bounded Dichotomous Choic

Feed resources availability, utilization and marketing in central and eastern Tigray, northern Ethiopia

This survey explored the situation of different feed resources for ruminant livestock in two zones (central and eastern) in Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. These two zones account for the region’s 12% of the total land mass, 23% of the human population, 28% of the cattle population, and 56% of the small ruminant population. Farmers feed their livestock a variety of feed resources that range from crop residues to non-conventional feeds.The overall contribution of crop residues exceeds 50% of the livestock feeds currently used by smallholder farmers, and this reflects the level of integration between crop and livestock farming. Overall, the management and utilization of crop residues with particular attention to collection and transportation is constrained by factors such as labour shortage, distance from harvesting field to animals and delayed harvest in the project districts. Grazing land management and improvement is seldom considered by farmers or the extension system. Acute shortages of AIBPs supply from the sources and high price fluctuation in the main towns of the districts are discouraging smallholder dairy and small ruminant farmers from using them on a regular basis. The contribution of improved forage plants is not as expected and forage genetic material multiplication sites are operating with insufficient budget and manpower, and not supported by proper research. The overall feed supply to demand ratio in four districts in the eastern zone is not enough to cover the annual maintenance requirements of the present stock

Radical Scavenging Activity and Preliminary Phytochemical Screening of Pods of Cassia arereh Del. (Fabaceae)

Cassia arereh is traditionally used as a fish poison and to manage different disease conditions including gastrointestinal tract (GIT) disorders, infertility, diabetes, insect bite, and infections. Free radicals have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a range of chronic diseases; and many medicinal plants are thought to be effective in managing such diseases, mainly through their free radicals scavenging ability. The objective of this study was to conduct phytochemical screening and investigate the free radical scavenging activity of various extracts of pods of C. arereh. Petroleum ether, ethanol, and water extracts were prepared from the pods powder and tested for their radical scavenging activity using 1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The pods powder was also subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening. The results revealed that ethanol and water extracts possessed strong DPPH radical scavenging activity with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 8.84 and 16.76μg/ml, respectively. Ascorbic acid was used as a standard and exhibited a radical scavenging IC50 value of 2.0μg/ml. Results of preliminary phytochemical screening indicated the possible presence of anthraquinones, carbohydrates, deoxy-sugars, saponins, tannins, and terpenoids. It can be concluded that pods of C. arereh may contain medicinally relevant constituents such as terpenoids and displayed strong radical scavenging activity, which may partly contribute to the possible scientific basis for its traditional use to alleviate different disease conditions.Keywords: Cassia arereh, Phytochemical screening, Radical scavenging, Traditional medicine, Ethiopia

Gender, rainfall endowment, and farmers’ heterogeneity in wheat trait preference in Ethiopia

Paper presented at the 7th African Conference of Agricultural Economics, 18-21 September 2021, Durban, South Africa. More information on the conference can be found here: https://www.acae2023.org