Intercropping of African marigold (Tagetes erecta Linnaeus (Asteraceae)) Varieties at Different Plant Density with Tomato (Solanum iycopersicum Linnaeus (Solanaceae)) on Yield Related Traits and Yield of tomato at Wondo Genet, Southern Ethiopia

Tomato is among the most important vegetable crops in Ethiopia. Planting marigolds between tomatoes protects the tomato plants from harmful root-knot nematodes in the soil and increase the marketable fruit yield of tomato by trapping different insects and pest attack and the like. Field experiment was conducted to assess effect of plant densities of intercropped African Marigold Varieties on yield related traits and yield of tomato and to evaluate the productivity and economic value of tomato and African marigold intercropping system, in southern parts of Ethiopia, at Wondo Genet Agricultural Research Center in 2017/18 cropping season. Three varieties of African marigold (AVT 001, AVT 540 and AVT 7063) at three population densities (PD) (25%, 50%, and 75%) were intercropped with tomato variety ‘Melkashola’. The three varieties of African marigold (AFM) and tomato were included as a sole for comparison. Randomized complete block design in factorial with three replications was used. Plant height, days to 50% flowering, days to physiological maturity and days to first harvest of tomato were not significantly affected by varieties of African marigold, population densities, interaction and cropping system. Harvest duration of tomato was delayed (27.56 days) and hastened (25.78 days) by variety AVT 540 and AVT 001, respectively as compared to VAT 7063. The highest (7.56) number of primary branches was due to 50% PD African marigold (AFM). The 50% PD delayed harvest duration (29.56 days) as compared to other PD. The highest number of harvest (3.91), numbers of fruit per plant (45.89) and number of fruit per cluster (15.56) were also obtained due to 50% PD. The highest fruit weight (13.80 ton ha-1) and marketable fruit yield (13.11 ton ha-1) were also obtained from 50% PD, but the highest unmarketable fruit yield (3.24 ton ha-1) was obtained from 25%. Cropping system was showed non-significant effect except marketable and unmarketable fruit yield of tomato, the highest marketable (10.19 ton ha-1) and unmarketable (4.37 ton ha-1) fruit yield were obtained from intercropped and sole cropping of tomato respectively .The highest (0.84) partial land equivalent ratio (LER) of tomato and total LER (1.43) were due to 50% PD. The highest value of monetary advantage index (37,225 ETB ha-1) was due to 50% PD. Therefore, any of the three African marigold varieties at 50% PD could be recommended for intercropping with tomato. Keywords: Cropping system, Marketable fruit yield, Population density and Unmarketable fruit yield. DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/11-6-01 Publication date:March 31st 202

Effect of Natural Selection on Grain Yield and Other Plant Characteristics in Selfed and Random, Mating Grain Sorghum Populations

Agronomy-Crop Scienc

Effects of Row Spacing, Plant Population, and Nitrogen Level on Grain Sorghum Production Under Reduced Tillage Systems

Agronom

Heritability, variance components and genetic advance of some yield and yield related traits in Ethiopian collections of finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) genotypes

Eighty-eight (88) finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) germplasm collections were tested using augmented randomized complete block design at Adet Agricultural Research Station in 2008 cropping season. The objective of this study was to find out heritability, variance components, variability and genetic advance for some yield and yield related agronomic characters. Statistically significant (p<0.01) difference was observed among the genotypes tested for important characters indicating the presence of variability. A considerable amount of variability among germplasms for the traits studied also indicated the usefulness of selection for these traits in the genetic material used for future improvement in finger millet. In addition, high genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) was recorded for number tillers per plant (71.93), number of ears per plant (96.55), number of fingers per ear (85.48), finger length (94.48), biomass yield (87.67), and grain yield (78.17) and high phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was similarly recorded for number tillers per plant (30.42), number of ears per plant(45.55), number of fingers per ear (24.88), finger length (26.18), biomass yield (85.56), and grain yield (29.87). High heritability coupled with high expected genetic advance as percent of mean was obtained for number of ears per plant (96.55, 90.59%), number of finger per ear (85.48, 43.81%), finger length (94.48, 50.95%), and days to heading (96.01, 14.13%), biomass yield (87.67, 154.52%), 1000 kernel weight (93.69, 37.70%), lodging susceptibility (98.92, 384.24%) and blast severity (87.60, 89.47%) indicating that the presence of more additive gene effects for potential crop improvement and so these characters could be improved through selection. This study reveals that greater yield response could be obtained through direct selection scheme in finger millet landraces.Keywords: Eleusine coracana, finger millet, genotypic coefficient, phenotypic coefficient, variance, heritability, genetic advance, Ethiopia.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(36), pp. 5529-553

Correlation and Path Analysis Studies of Stalk Lodging Resistance, Grain Yield and Related Agronomic Traits in Different Maize Varieties

Twelve maize varieties of different years of release were grown at Bako in a plot size of 15.3 m2 using the RCBD design under rain fed condition at Bako.  The objectives were to assess the degree of variation of maize genotypes for stalk lodging resistance and to estimate correlation among stalk lodging,  grain yield, and yield related traits. There were significant differences among genotypes for stalk lodging (P<0.01). Even though there were significant  difference (P<0.01) for grain yield among genotypes most of the genotypes performed below their potential, except BH-541 due to the late onset of  rainfall and terminal drought stress, which disfavours the full expression of genetic potential. A relatively high value of phenotypic coefficients of  variation was observed for stalk water content, grain moister content, ear height, and stalk lodging percentage. The correlation values though high, were  non-significant for most of genotypes due to the small number of experimental material tested. The dependent characters yield and stalk lodging  correlated negatively at phenotypic and environmental level. Both grain yield and stalk lodging showed positive direct effect with grain moisture content  (1.3817, 1.7844), ear height (6.9566, 8.9841), major stalk diameter (0.4912, 0.6344), minor stalk diameter (0.0912, 0.1178), ear length (0.4152, 0.5362) and  stalk water content (0.4386, 0.5664) at phenotypic level. Correlations of grain yield with major stalk diameter (rp=0.7056) and with ear length (rp=0.5999)  was positive and in a desirable direction, while Correlations of stalk lodging with major stalk diameter (rp=-0.3713) and with ear length (rp=-0.4332) was  negative and in a desirable direction, so improving these traits directly improved grain yield and decrease stalk lodging but restricted simultaneous  selection of other indirect traits would be important especially when we practice direct selection through major stalk diameter and ear length; hence, the  positive contributor traits grain moister content, ear height, minor stalk diameter, stalk water content ignored while plant height, ear height to plant  height ratio should be considered. Among the genotypes, BH-541 was found to be ideal since it has the highest values for both major stalk diameter and  ear length.&nbsp

A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Association Analyses of Ethiopian Sorghum Landrace Collection Reveal Loci Associated With Important Traits

The eastern Africa region, Ethiopia and its surroundings, is considered as the center of origin and diversity for sorghum, and has contributed to global sorghum genetic improvement. The germplasm from this region harbors enormous genetic variation for various traits but little is known regarding the genetic architecture of most traits. Here, 1425 Ethiopian landrace accessions were phenotyped under field conditions for presence or absence of awns, panicle compactness and shape, panicle exsertion, pericarp color, glume cover, plant height and smut resistance under diverse environmental conditions in Ethiopia. In addition, F1 hybrids obtained from a subset of 1341 accessions crossed to an A1 cytoplasmic male sterile line, ATx623, were scored for fertility/sterility reactions. Subsequently, genotyping-by-sequencing generated a total of 879,407 SNPs from which 72,190 robust SNP markers were selected after stringent quality control (QC). Pairwise distance-based hierarchical clustering identified 11 distinct groups. Of the genotypes assigned to either one of the 11 sub-populations, 65% had high ancestry membership coefficient with the likelihood of more than 0.60 and the remaining 35% represented highly admixed accessions. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified loci and SNPs associated with aforementioned traits. GWAS based on compressed mixed linear model (CMLM) identified SNPs with significant association (FDR ≤ 0.05) to the different traits studied. The percentage of total phenotypic variation explained with significant SNPs across traits ranged from 2 to 43%. Candidate genes showing significant association with different traits were identified. The sorghum bHLH transcription factor, ABORTED MICROSPORES was identified as a strong candidate gene conditioning male fertility. Notably, sorghum CLAVATA1 receptor like kinase, known for regulation of plant growth, and the ETHYLENE RESPONSIVE TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR gene RAP2-7, known to suppress transition to flowering, were significantly associated with plant height. In addition, the YELLOW SEED1 like MYB transcription factor and TANNIN1 showed strong association with pericarp color validating previous observations. Overall, the genetic architecture of natural variation representing the complex Ethiopian sorghum germplasm was established. The study contributes to the characterization of genes and alleles controlling agronomic traits, and will serve as a source of markers for molecular breeding

Estimating global injuries morbidity and mortality : methods and data used in the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study

Background: While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern research methods must account for the wide spectrum of disability that can occur in an injury, and must provide estimates with sufficient demographic, geographical and temporal detail to be useful for policy makers. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study used methods to provide highly detailed estimates of global injury burden that meet these criteria. Methods: In this study, we report and discuss the methods used in GBD 2017 for injury morbidity and mortality burden estimation. In summary, these methods included estimating cause-specific mortality for every cause of injury, and then estimating incidence for every cause of injury. Non-fatal disability for each cause is then calculated based on the probabilities of suffering from different types of bodily injury experienced. Results: GBD 2017 produced morbidity and mortality estimates for 38 causes of injury. Estimates were produced in terms of incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, cause-specific mortality, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life-years for a 28-year period for 22 age groups, 195 countries and both sexes. Conclusions: GBD 2017 demonstrated a complex and sophisticated series of analytical steps using the largest known database of morbidity and mortality data on injuries. GBD 2017 results should be used to help inform injury prevention policy making and resource allocation. We also identify important avenues for improving injury burden estimation in the future

Global injury morbidity and mortality from 1990 to 2017 : results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Correction:Background Past research in population health trends has shown that injuries form a substantial burden of population health loss. Regular updates to injury burden assessments are critical. We report Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 Study estimates on morbidity and mortality for all injuries. Methods We reviewed results for injuries from the GBD 2017 study. GBD 2017 measured injury-specific mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) using the Cause of Death Ensemble model. To measure non-fatal injuries, GBD 2017 modelled injury-specific incidence and converted this to prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs). YLLs and YLDs were summed to calculate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Findings In 1990, there were 4 260 493 (4 085 700 to 4 396 138) injury deaths, which increased to 4 484 722 (4 332 010 to 4 585 554) deaths in 2017, while age-standardised mortality decreased from 1079 (1073 to 1086) to 738 (730 to 745) per 100 000. In 1990, there were 354 064 302 (95% uncertainty interval: 338 174 876 to 371 610 802) new cases of injury globally, which increased to 520 710 288 (493 430 247 to 547 988 635) new cases in 2017. During this time, age-standardised incidence decreased non-significantly from 6824 (6534 to 7147) to 6763 (6412 to 7118) per 100 000. Between 1990 and 2017, age-standardised DALYs decreased from 4947 (4655 to 5233) per 100 000 to 3267 (3058 to 3505). Interpretation Injuries are an important cause of health loss globally, though mortality has declined between 1990 and 2017. Future research in injury burden should focus on prevention in high-burden populations, improving data collection and ensuring access to medical care.Peer reviewe

Estimating global injuries morbidity and mortality : methods and data used in the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study

Background While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern research methods must account for the wide spectrum of disability that can occur in an injury, and must provide estimates with sufficient demographic, geographical and temporal detail to be useful for policy makers. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study used methods to provide highly detailed estimates of global injury burden that meet these criteria. Methods In this study, we report and discuss the methods used in GBD 2017 for injury morbidity and mortality burden estimation. In summary, these methods included estimating cause-specific mortality for every cause of injury, and then estimating incidence for every cause of injury. Non-fatal disability for each cause is then calculated based on the probabilities of suffering from different types of bodily injury experienced. Results GBD 2017 produced morbidity and mortality estimates for 38 causes of injury. Estimates were produced in terms of incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, cause-specific mortality, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life-years for a 28-year period for 22 age groups, 195 countries and both sexes. Conclusions GBD 2017 demonstrated a complex and sophisticated series of analytical steps using the largest known database of morbidity and mortality data on injuries. GBD 2017 results should be used to help inform injury prevention policy making and resource allocation. We also identify important avenues for improving injury burden estimation in the future.Peer reviewe

Global, regional, and national under-5 mortality, adult mortality, age-specific mortality, and life expectancy, 1970–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

BACKGROUND: Detailed assessments of mortality patterns, particularly age-specific mortality, represent a crucial input that enables health systems to target interventions to specific populations. Understanding how all-cause mortality has changed with respect to development status can identify exemplars for best practice. To accomplish this, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) estimated age-specific and sex-specific all-cause mortality between 1970 and 2016 for 195 countries and territories and at the subnational level for the five countries with a population greater than 200 million in 2016. METHODS: We have evaluated how well civil registration systems captured deaths using a set of demographic methods called death distribution methods for adults and from consideration of survey and census data for children younger than 5 years. We generated an overall assessment of completeness of registration of deaths by dividing registered deaths in each location-year by our estimate of all-age deaths generated from our overall estimation process. For 163 locations, including subnational units in countries with a population greater than 200 million with complete vital registration (VR) systems, our estimates were largely driven by the observed data, with corrections for small fluctuations in numbers and estimation for recent years where there were lags in data reporting (lags were variable by location, generally between 1 year and 6 years). For other locations, we took advantage of different data sources available to measure under-5 mortality rates (U5MR) using complete birth histories, summary birth histories, and incomplete VR with adjustments; we measured adult mortality rate (the probability of death in individuals aged 15-60 years) using adjusted incomplete VR, sibling histories, and household death recall. We used the U5MR and adult mortality rate, together with crude death rate due to HIV in the GBD model life table system, to estimate age-specific and sex-specific death rates for each location-year. Using various international databases, we identified fatal discontinuities, which we defined as increases in the death rate of more than one death per million, resulting from conflict and terrorism, natural disasters, major transport or technological accidents, and a subset of epidemic infectious diseases; these were added to estimates in the relevant years. In 47 countries with an identified peak adult prevalence for HIV/AIDS of more than 0·5% and where VR systems were less than 65% complete, we informed our estimates of age-sex-specific mortality using the Estimation and Projection Package (EPP)-Spectrum model fitted to national HIV/AIDS prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance systems. We estimated stillbirths, early neonatal, late neonatal, and childhood mortality using both survey and VR data in spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression models. We estimated abridged life tables for all location-years using age-specific death rates. We grouped locations into development quintiles based on the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and analysed mortality trends by quintile. Using spline regression, we estimated the expected mortality rate for each age-sex group as a function of SDI. We identified countries with higher life expectancy than expected by comparing observed life expectancy to anticipated life expectancy on the basis of development status alone. FINDINGS: Completeness in the registration of deaths increased from 28% in 1970 to a peak of 45% in 2013; completeness was lower after 2013 because of lags in reporting. Total deaths in children younger than 5 years decreased from 1970 to 2016, and slower decreases occurred at ages 5-24 years. By contrast, numbers of adult deaths increased in each 5-year age bracket above the age of 25 years. The distribution of annualised rates of change in age-specific mortality rate differed over the period 2000 to 2016 compared with earlier decades: increasing annualised rates of change were less frequent, although rising annualised rates of change still occurred in some locations, particularly for adolescent and younger adult age groups. Rates of stillbirths and under-5 mortality both decreased globally from 1970. Evidence for global convergence of death rates was mixed; although the absolute difference between age-standardised death rates narrowed between countries at the lowest and highest levels of SDI, the ratio of these death rates-a measure of relative inequality-increased slightly. There was a strong shift between 1970 and 2016 toward higher life expectancy, most noticeably at higher levels of SDI. Among countries with populations greater than 1 million in 2016, life expectancy at birth was highest for women in Japan, at 86·9 years (95% UI 86·7-87·2), and for men in Singapore, at 81·3 years (78·8-83·7) in 2016. Male life expectancy was generally lower than female life expectancy between 1970 and 2016, an