Effects of Various Rooting Media on Survival and Growth of Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) Stem Cuttings at Jimma

Study on the effect of different soil media types on tea stem cutting was conducted inside shade house nursery at Jimma agricultural research center with the objective to identify appropriate soil media for better survival, growth and field establishment of tea seedlings regenerated from stem cutting. Single nodal tea stem cuttings with one leaf were used from the healthy bushes 11/56 tea clone and raised in different soil media type during the 2010 and 2014 crop season. The soil media was prepared from topsoil, subsoil, sand, farm yard manure and decomposed coffee husk as solely and with various volume of soil mixture filled in polythen tube. The experiment was repeated to collect a more comprehensive data that support or confirm the former result. The subsoil (1/3 top part) + {topsoil + sand + farm yard manure (2/3 bottom part) at 2:1:1 ratio}, subsoil (1/3 top part) + topsoil (2/3 bottom part) and subsoil (1/3 top part) + {topsoil + decomposed coffee husk (2/3 bottom part) at 2:1 ratio} and subsoil alone gave higher survival rate, root length, root dry weight and shoot dry weight. Based on soil laboratory result the pH of best performing media ranged between 4.5 and 5.5. Therefore for Jimma and areas having similar conditions subsoil alone, subsoil (1/3 top part) + topsoil (2/3 bottom part), subsoil (1/3 top part) + {topsoil + sand + farm yard manure (2/3 bottom part) at 2:1:1 ratio} and subsoil (1/3 top part) + {topsoil + decomposed coffee husk (2/3 bottom part) at 2:1 ratio} are recommendable rotting media options for successful rooting survival, establishment and growth of tea seedlings. Keywords:  rooting media, subsoil, sand, topsoil, farm yard manure, decomposed coffee hus

Rural Communities\u27 Vulnerability to Farmland Poverty in Varied Ecological Settings of Northwest Ethiopia

Environmental and climate changes are among the serious threats to the world\u27s land resources in the 21st Century. Particularly, in the developing countries the impact inevitably goes as the continuing toll on agricultural production, human lives, and properties. It is also a driving force of poverty and impediment of overall economic development in many less developed nations, like Ethiopia. Therefore, this paper assesses the rural communities\u27 vulnerability to farmland poverty in different ecological settings of northwest Ethiopia. Data were collected from 525 randomly selected farming households using questionnaire. Meteorological data were collected from Global Weather Data for soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) from 1979 to 2010. Rainfall and temperature trends were characterized using simple linear regression model. Rural communities\u27 vulnerability to farmland poverty was determined using livelihood vulnerability index (LVI). Indices were constructed using simple and weighted average approaches to measure farmlands\u27 exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Overall communities\u27 levels of vulnerability to farmlands poverty were found to be 0.76 in the lowland, 0.57 in the flat highland and 0.51 in the midland areas. In almost all indicators the lowland (Abay Valley) is more vulnerable to farmland-related troubles as the biophysical and socio-economic contexts were found to be the worst there. Communities and government and non-government officials have observed significant negative impacts of drought and extreme weather events on farmlands, pasturelands with declining availability, productivity and quality of farmlands. This study suggests education and research interventions for enhancing community-based participatory integrated watershed management approach supported with best indigenous knowledge and farmers\u27 practices. Adaptation interventions should also consider local communities\u27 resource capacity (low-cost investment in sound farmland and soil management techniques)

Pattern of functional diversity along the elevation gradient in the dry evergreen Afromontane forest of Hararghe Highland, Southeast Ethiopia

Understanding plant species distribution patterns along environmental gradients is fundamental to managing ecosystems, particularly when habitats are fragmented due to intensive human land use pressure. The variation pattern of functional diversity of plant communities along the elevation gradient in the Dindin dry evergreen Afromontane forest was tested. Fifty four plots of 20 x 20 m (400 m2) were established at 200 m intervals starting 2,300–2,900 m a. s. l. and woody species composition, and environmental variables were recorded. Nine functional diversity indices based on functional distances were employed to esimate functional diversity. The mixed effect model was used to determine the effect of elevation, aspect and slope on functional diversity indices. The results showed that functional diversity in communities varied greatly; functional diversity revealed a decrease with increasing elevation and a‘‘humped’’ pattern, with peak diversity appearing at middle elevation. Functional diversity was significantly correlated with elevation, slope, and aspect. Functional diversity was significantly correlated with species richness and evenness. Environmental filtering was important to the functional diversity pattern; the nine indices were all successful in the analysis of functional diversity in the plant community with different effectiveness, and modified functional attribute diversity, plot-based functional diversity, community based functional diversity, functional richness, and community weight mean of woody density performed better than the other four indices in this study

The Toxicity of plant material, Drimia Altissima (Urginea Altissima), Against the Field Rat, Arvicanthis Abyssinicus: A potential non-synthetic rodenticide

Background: Rodents are important pests of public health and agricultural importance, capable of transmitting diseases to humans and causing crop damage. The present rodent control strategy depends primarily on synthetic rodenticides, which are highly toxic, affect non-target species, and are expensive. Naturally produced organic pesticides may be more desirable as they are less toxic to non-target animals and are  economically sustainable.Objective: The objective of the study is to explore the toxicity and palatability of the bulbs of Drimia altissima against the field rat, Arvicanthis abyssincus with the aim of developing locally based organic rodenticides.Method: This is a laboratory study for evaluating the toxicity of D. altissimia bait against the field rat, Arvicanthis abyssincus. In the study, field rats were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. The treatment groups received different concentrations of D. altissimia poison bait prepared in the lab. The control groups received the plain bait. Mortality was recorded during the test period.Results: Of the treatment groups, 80%-100% of the rats receiving the poison bait died, while none of the rats offered a choice between the plain bait and the poisoned bait died. It is estimated that 8% of the powdered bulb would produce 50% mortality.Conclusion: The powdered bulb of D. altissima resulted in rat mortality in the test but not in the control group. The liberation of the toxic substance from the poisoned bait might have been slowed by the presence of the plain bait in the choice test. The result of this study suggests that further work is needed for understanding the toxicological properties of the active agents in the bulb

Markov Chain Modeling of Daily Rainfall in Lay Gaint Woreda, South Gonder Zone, Ethiopia

Information on seasonal Kiremet and seasonal Belg rainfall amount is important in the rain fed agriculture of Ethiopia since more than 85% of the population is dependent on agriculture particularly on rain fed farming practices. The distribution pattern of rainfall rather than the total amount of rainfall within the entire period of time is more important for studying the pattern of rainfall occurrence. A two-state Markov chain was used to describe the characteristics of rainfall occurrences in this woreda. The states, as considered were; dry (d) and rainy (r). The overall chance of rain and the fitted curve tells us that the chance of getting rain in the main rainy season is about twice as compared to the small rainy season. The first order Markov chain model indicates that the probability of getting rain in the small rainy season is significantly dependent on whether the earlier date was dry or wet. While the second order Marko chain indicates that the main rainy season the dependence of the probability of rain on the previous two dates\u27 conditions is less as compared with the small rainy season. Rainfall amounts are very variable and are usually modeled by a gamma distribution. Therefore, the pattern of rainfall is somewhat unimodial having only one extreme value in August. Onset, cessation and length of growing season of rainfall for the main rainy season show medium variation compared to the small rainy season

Climate Variability, Communities\u27 Perceptions and Land Management Strategies in Lay Gayint Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia

Climate variability is the fluctuation of climatic elements from the normal or baseline values. Agrarian communities are the most sensitive social groups to climate variability and associate extreme weather-induced hazards due to the fact that climate variability affects the two most important direct agricultural production inputs, such as rainfall and temperature. As Ethiopia is heavily dependent on agriculture its economic development is being hindered by climate variability coupled with many other deriving forces. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine climate variability, local communities\u27 perceptions and land management strategies to reduce the adverse impact of climate variability in Lay Gayint Woreda, Ethiopia. Both primary and secondary data were used to complete this study. Primary data were collected and analyzed from a total of 200 randomly selected respondents reside in different agro-ecological areas. Metrology data were gathered from Nefas Mewcha Station from the years 1979 to 2010. Standardized rainfall anomaly index (SRAI), crop diversification index (CDI) and other descriptive statistical techniques were used to analyze the data. The results obtained from the climate data revealed an increase in temperature, and decrease and/or erratic in rainfall distribution. Time series SRAI from 1979 to 2010 indicates that 2002 and 2008 were characterized by extreme and severe dry conditions in order of importance with high impact on crop yields whist only 1984 and 1990 received near normal rainfall amount. Similarly, the survey result reveals that out of the total household heads, 87.5 % perceived that there was an increase in temperature over the last 20 years. The survey result also disclosed that significant numbers of households are more likely to adopt different land management strategies to reduce the negative impact of climate variability. Constructing terraces and check dams as well as planting trees were the major land management strategies used by the local communities. However, crop diversification index (CDI) was found to be 0.11 as the cultivated area is stanch to one crop indicating very low alternative crop production in the study area. Although the study area receives variable and inefficient rainfall the rugged topography and poor soil conditions have hindered the development of irrigation facilities. Local context-specific integrated watershed management activities, small-scale irrigation schemes and extension services need to be strengthened to reduce the impact of climate variability. Policy makers need also to substantially invest in establishing information dissemination systems in order to provide reliable weather information for farmers given that crop production is largely dependent on it

Partureints' need of continous labor support in labor wards

No Abstract. The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development Vol. 21 (1) 2007: pp. 35-3

Design of Dual and Swing Restored Complementary Pass Transistor Logic for Low Power Ripple Carry Array Multiplier

In a conventional array multiplier many number of CMOS structures are used in designing. Here this paper presents a multiplier that uses an alternative internal logic structure in designing. The project uses pass transistors logic designs leading to reduction of power usage

Why do people not attend for treatment for trachomatous trichiasis in Ethiopia? A study of barriers to surgery.

BACKGROUND: Trachomatous trichiasis (TT) surgery is provided free or subsidised in most trachoma endemic settings. However, only 18-66% of TT patients attend for surgery. This study analyses barriers to attendance among TT patients in Ethiopia, the country with the highest prevalence of TT in the world. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Participants with previously un-operated TT were recruited at 17 surgical outreach campaigns in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. An interview was conducted to ascertain why they had not attended for surgery previously. A trachoma eye examination was performed by an ophthalmologist. 2591 consecutive individuals were interviewed. The most frequently cited barriers to previous attendance for surgery were lack of time (45.3%), financial constraints (42.9%) and lack of an escort (35.5% in females, 19.6% in males). Women were more likely to report a fear of surgery (7.7% vs 3.2%, p<0.001) or be unaware of how to access services (4.5% vs 1.0% p<0.001); men were more frequently asymptomatic (19.6% vs 10.1%, p<0.001). Women were also less likely to have been previously offered TT surgery than men (OR = 0.70, 95%CI 0.53-0.94). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The major barriers to accessing surgery from the patients' perspective are the direct and indirect costs of surgery. These can to a large extent be reduced or overcome through the provision of free or low cost surgery at the community level. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00522860 and NCT00522912

Indications, Challenges, and Characteristics of Successful Implementation of Perioperative Registries in Low Resource Settings: : A Systematic Review

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Ms. Dilshaad Brey for her assistance during the database searches and in organising the search results. UCT Division of Global Surgery and Prof Maswime’s SA MRC Mid-career Scientist Award for partially funding this study. Funding Open access funding provided by University of Cape Town. This study was partially funded by the University of Cape Town Department of Global Surgery, and the Network for Perioperative and Critical Care (N4PCc).Peer reviewedPublisher PD