Influence of Inter-Intra Row Spacing on Yield Losses of Tomato Cultivars

Field experiment was carried out at Melkassa Agricultural Research Center in 2012 and 2013 off-seasons using furrow irrigation with the objectives of evaluating the effect of four inter-row spacings (70, 80, 90, and 100 cm) and three intra-row spacing (20, 30 and 40 cm) on yield losses of tomato growing under open field production with fresh market (Bishola) and processing (Cochoro) type of determinate tomato cultivars. The treatments were arranged in 2x4x3 factorial in a split-split plot design in three eplications. Data on major yield loss agents such as, blossom end rot, decay, insect, disease, sunburn, crack, catface and others minor disorders were collected; as well as total yield, percent of marketable and unmarketable fruit yield parameters were analyzed. Results of the study showed that inter-intra row spacing and cultivar had a significant (

Influence of inter and intra-rows spacing on yield and yield components of tomato cultivars

Tomato is an important cash crop in Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia and currently plant spacing practiced by growers quite different from research recommendation.Field experiment was carried out at Melkassa Agricultural Research Center, in the year 2011/12 and 2012/13 off seasons with the objectives of evaluating the effect of four inter-row spacings (70, 80, 90, and 100 cm) and three intra-row spacing (20, 30 and 40 cm) on yield and yield components of fresh market(Bishola) and processing (Cochoro) tomato cultivars. The treatments were arranged in 2x4x3 factorial in a split-split plot design in three replications. Data were collected on plant canopy width, above ground dry biomass as well total, marketable and unmarketable fruit yield and on quality parameters such as TSS, fruit length and diameter were analyzed. The results indicated that inter and inter-row spacing had a significant effect on plan canopy width, above ground dry biomass, total, marketable, unmarketable fruit yield, TSS, fruit length and diameter. The highest canopy width of Bishola (77.08 cm) was recorded at 40 cm x 100 cm whereas for Cochoro (71.30 cm) at 40 cm x 90 cm. Maximumfruit TSS (3.72) was recorded at 40 cm intra-row spacing and this was not significantly different from 30 cm (3.68). The highest total fruit yield of 100.45 and 92.55 ton/ha were recorded for closer inter and intra-row spacing of 70 and 20 cm, respectively. However, the highest marketable yield was obtained at 90 cm (51.48 ton/ha) inter-row spacing and at 30 cm (45.78 ton/ha) intra row spacing and this was not significantly different from 40 cm. The study suggest that 30 cm x 90 cm or 40 cm x 90 intra-inter row spacingcombination was suitable for obtaining higher marketable yield and good quality fruit around Melkassa and similar conditions in Ethiopia

Potentially inappropriate medication prescribing patterns in geriatric patients in a health facility in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Purpose: To assess potentially inappropriate medication (PIMs) prescribing pattern in geriatric patients attending the outpatient department (OPD) of the General Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Methods: The study was conducted retrospectively for geriatric patients sixty years of age and above, who visited an Outpatient Department of Tirunesh Beijing General Hospital. Data were gathered for a duration of one month from prescriptions/encounters at the Outpatient Pharmacy, and analysis was carried out using SPSS (Statistical Packages for Social Sciences) version 20, while and drug prescribing indicators, and potentially inappropriate medications were calculated based on WHO prescribed indicators and Beer’s criteria.Results: Of the 400 encounters assessed, 218 (55 %) were male and 182 (45 %) were female. Four hundred prescriptions contained 1,003 drugs. Out of the mean drug per prescription of 2.51, drugs prescribed by generic names were 91.62 %, those prescribed from NLEM (national list of essential medicine) were 91.53 %; prescriptions with an antibiotic injection were 27.75 % and 16.25% respectively, and more than 5 drugs were prescribed only for 10.8 % of geriatrics patients. Cardiovascular drugs constituted about a quarter of the  prescribed medications with 271 (27.02 %); others were analgesics, anti-inflammatory, anti-infective, endocrine drugs, gastrointestinal drugs, and other drugs, accounting for 116 (11.6%), 112 (11.2%), 96 (9.6%), 94 (9.4%) and 187 (18.6%), respectively. Potentially inappropriate drugs occurred in 46.9 % of the cases.Conclusion: Potentially inappropriate medication (PIMs) prescribing in geriatric is highest in percentage. Proper interventions are needed from all concerned bodies to avoid drug-related complications

Evaluation of Banana (Musa spp.) Cultivars for Growth, Yield, and Fruit Quality

አህፅሮት ይህ ጥናት የተካሄደው ዘጠኝ (አራት ከውጪ የገቡ እና  አምስት ከሀገር ውስጥ የተሰበሰቡ) የሙዝ ዝርያዎችና አንድ በመመረት ላይ የሚገኝ የማወዳደሪያ ዝርያ በአራት የተለያዩ የሀገሪቱ አካባቢዎች ለሁለት የምርት ዓመታት ያላቸውን የዕድገት፣ ምርት እና ጥራት ሁኔታ ለመገምገም ነበር፡፡ በእያንዳንዱ የሙከራ ቦታ እያንዳንዱ ዝርያ ሶስት ጊዜ በተለያየ ረድፍ ተተክሎ አስፈላጊው እንክብካቤ እየተደረገላቸው ተገምግመዋል፡፡ የተገኘው መረጃ እንደሚያመለክተው በተክል ቁመት፣ ተተክሎ ማበብ እስከሚጀምር እና ተተክሎ ምርት እስከሚደርስ በሚወስደው ጊዜ፣ በአምባዛ (ዘለላ) ክብደት፣ በፍሬ ውፍረት፣ በፍሬ ርዝመት፣ በፍሬ ክብደት፣ በምርት መጠን፣ በልጣጭ ውፍረት፣ የሚበላው ክፍል ከልጣጩ ጋር ባለው ጥምርታ፣ በሚሟሙ ጠጣሮች መጠን፣ በአሲድ መጠን፣ በፒኤች፣ በፍሬ እርጥበት እና በፍሬ የአመድ ይዘት መጠን በዝርያዎች መካከል ከፍተኛ ልዩነት ተመዝግቧል፡ እንደአጠቃላይ ዝርያዎቹ አጭርና ወፍራም ተክል (ግንድ) ነበራቸው፡፡ ዝርያዎቹ ተተክለው እስኪያብቡ ከ243.8 እስከ 316.8 ቀናት እንዲሁም ተተክለው ምርታቸው እስኪሰበሰብ ከ374.4 እስከ 446.7 ቀናት ወስዶባቸዋል፡፡ የሁሉም የሙከራ አካባቢዎች አማካይ የምርት መጠን ከ43.67 እስከ 52.46 ቶን በሄክታር ሆኖ ተመዝግቧል፡፡ አምስት ዝርያዎች ከማወዳደሪያው ዝርያ አኳያ ተወዳዳሪ (ተመሳሳይ) የሆነ ምርት አስመዝግበዋል፡፡ በስሜት ህዋሳት አማካኝነት በተካሄደ የትንተና መረጃ መሰረት ሁሉም ዝርያዎች በቀማሾች ዘንድ ተመራጭ ሆነዋል፡፡ ከማወዳደሪያ ዝርያው አኳያ እጩ ዝርያዎች ከፍተኛ የሚሟሙ ጠጣሮች መጠን፣ ፎስፎረስ እና ፖታሲየም እንዲሁም አነስተኛ የአሲድ መጠን አስመዝግበዋል፡፡ የፍሬ እርጥበትና የአመድ ይዘት መጠን እንደቅደምተከተላቸው ከ71.53 እስከ 76.56 በመቶ እና ከ2.5 እስከ 3.36 በመቶ ሆኖ ተመዝግቧል፡፡ የዕድገት፣ የምርትና የጥራት መረጃዎችን መሰረት በማድረግ ‘ሌዲ ፊንገር’ እና ‘ድንኬ-1’ የተባሉት ዝርያዎች በዋና ዋና የሙዝ አምራች አካባቢዎች ወደምርት እንዲገቡ ምክር ተሰጥቷል፡፡   Abstract A study was conducted to evaluate four introduced and five local banana cultivars with a check variety for growth, yield and quality performances at four locations for two crop cycles. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results revealed significant varietal differences in plant height, days to shooting, time from planting to harvest, bunch weight, finger diameter, length and weight, yield, peel thickness, pulp-to-peel ratio, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, moisture and ash contents. The cultivars had generally short and thick plants. Cultivars took from 243.8 to 316.8 days to flowering while from 374.4 to 446.7 days to first harvest. The yield ranged from 43.67 to 52.46 t ha-1. Five cultivars had comparable yields to the check. The sensory results indicated that all the cultivars were generally preferred. The candidate cultivars recorded higher soluble solids, phosphorus and potassium, but lower titratable acidity than the check. The moisture and ash contents ranged from 71.53 to 76.56% and 2.50 to 3.36%, respectively. Considering the growth and yield performances as well as fruit physicochemical and sensory characteristics, ‘Lady Finger’ and ‘Dinke-1’ are recommended for production in the major banana growing areas of Ethiopia