Labor-Management Cooperation or Conflict: with Special Focus in Nazareth Tractor Assembly Plant

The objective of this research was to identify possible causes of conflict between labor and management and find ways on how labor and management can work together so that both bodies can work in a cooperative spirit to advance the goal of the organization, Nazareth Tractor Assembly plant. For undertaking this research, the study used historical and self administered survey methodology to gain insight into the causes of the problem and find possible solutions. Information from different publications and documents from Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Union (CETU), and Nazareth Tractor Assembly Plant (NTAP) were used. In addition, a survey was administered on workers of the plant. The research aimed to address the following specific research questions. 1. What has been the traditional relationship between labor and management? 2. What has been the cause of conflict? 3. What has been the extent of cooperation between labor and across the nation? 4. How can labor and management interact in the plant to effectively and efficiently advance towards a common goal? It was hoped that the study would clearly reveal the causes of such conflict and offer solutions to the problem.Jimma Universit

Evaluation of Land Use/ Land Cover Changes in East of Lake Tana, Ethiopia

The objective of this study is to evaluate the Land use/ land cover changes in East of Lake Tana, Ethiopia. Data was gathered from two different years of satellite image (Landsat 5 TM of 1985 and Landsat 7 ETM+ imagery 2011). Global positioning system and topographical maps of scale 1:50,000 were used for ground verification. The data were employed using ERDAS Imagine 9.1 and ArcGIS 9.3 software. Field observations and focus group discussions of farming households were also conducted to gather additional information. The result of this study portrayed that there is an expansion of cultivated and degraded land by 72.7% and 39.34% respectively from 1985 to 2011 at the expense of forest, shrub and grazing land. The expansion of degraded land indicated that how the conversion of forest, shrub and grazing land into cultivated land aggravated land degradation. Thus, proper implementation of land use policy is recommended. Keywords: land use/land cover, change analysi

Plants Response to the Application of Vermicompost: A Review

Organic fertilizer has long been recognized in agriculture for maintaining soil fertility and used for maximizing plant growth and yield of plants. Vermicompost: organic fertilizer is now becoming an interesting approach and proven to be effective means of improving soil structure, enhancing soil fertility and increase crop yield. Plants growth is highly stimulated by vermicompost; because it contains the nutrients and other essential nutrients like phosphorus and potassium.Vermicompost can increase growth, flowering and yields of vegetable and ornamental crops, even in a small rate. The effects of vermicompost on plants are not solely attributed to the quality of mineral nutrition is provided but also to its other growth regulating components such as plant growth hormones and humic acids. Keywords: Vermicompost, soil fertility, plant growth DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/9-3-0

Growth and Yield Performance of Garlic (Allium sativum L.) Varieties to Application of Vermicompost at Koga Irrigation Site, Northwestern Ethiopia

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is an important cash and spice crop produced for home consumption and as a source of income to many smallholder farmers in many parts of the Ethiopia. Field experiment was conducted at Adet Agricultural Research Center, Koga irrigation trial site in 2015/2016 cropping season. Three garlic varieties (Bishoftu Nech, Tsedey and a local cultivar) and three levels of vermicompost fertilizer (0, 2500, 5000 kg ha-1) were tested in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Bishoftu Nech variety gave significantly the highest total and marketable bulb yield 8.50 and 8.10 ton ha-1, respectively, that exhibited 24 and 57% advantages over Tseday and the local cultivar, respectively. The highest values of mean bulb weight (37.85 g), mean clove number (9.92), mean clove weight (5.65 g), total fresh biomass yield (47.82 g/plant) and bulb dry matter (19.62%) was recorded from Bishoftu Nech variety with application of 5000 kg ha-1 vermicompost. Therefore, based on the current study, it can be concluded that producers in the study area could use Bishoftu Nech variety using 5000 kg ha-1 vermicompost for optimum garlic production. Keywords: Variety, vermicompost, yield, optimum garlic production, maximum economic benefit DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/10-23-01 Publication date: December 31st 202

Population Growth Nexus Land Degradation in Ethiopia

Land degradation is one of the challenging environmental problems of Ethiopia. In addition, land degradation, low and declining agricultural productivity and poverty are severe and interrelated problems in the country. Land degradation is caused by many factors such as rapid population increase, deforestation, step topographic features, intensive rain fall, unbalanced crop and livestock production to mention few of them. The relation of population growth and land degradation is quite different in many parts of the world. In some parts of the world, population is considered as a problem. While, in other parts of the world it is considered as a resource.  In Ethiopia, population growth is the repeatedly mentioned cause of land degradation in general and soil erosion in particular. Thus, this paper aims to give an overview on population growth and land degradation in Ethiopia by taking typical evidence from different parts of the country. Key words: Population growth, soil erosion, soil fertility los

Bovan White Chicken Growth Performance and Environmental Adaptability under Backyard Production System in Debre Tabor Town

The study was conducted at Debre Tabor town using Bovan white chicken with a body weight of 34 gram. The objectives of the study were to assess growth performance and environmental adaptability of Bovan white chicken. Data for 66 days were collected using semi structure interview and then analyzed by using descriptive statistics. The average daily body weight gain of chickens was 5.24gram and mortality rate of chickens in the first two weeks was very high, which is about 540 chickens or 30% were died. This was probably associated due to management practice especially, due to lack of brooding system and multi vitamin intake. Then after one month’s mortality rate was sharply decreases. Based on the result obtained it is recommended that management practice should be improved to decrease mortality rate especially in the early age of growth and to improve growth performance of chicken. Keywords: Bovan white chicken, growth performance, environmental adaptabilit

Co-digestion of municipal organic wastes with night soil and cow dung for biogas production: A Review

Currently, biogas production is one of the most promising renewable energy sources and it represents a very promising way to overcome the problem of waste treatment. Biogas, which is principally composed of methane and carbon dioxide, can be obtained by anaerobic fermentation of biomass such as manure, night soil, sewage sludge and municipal solid wastes. Furthermore, the solid residuals of fermentation (the digested slurry) might be reused as fertilizer, to enhance the fertility of the soil. The huge amount of waste generates in the urban areas especially organic fraction of municipal solid waste or simply municipal bio-waste, which is used as feedstock for biogas production; represents an environmentally sustainable energy source since it improves solid waste management while simultaneously providing an alternative clean energy source. The primary advantages of biogas technology is the use of organic wastes with a low nutrient content to degrade by co-digesting with different substrates in the anaerobic bioreactors, and the process simultaneously leads to low cost production of biogas, which could be vital for meeting future energy needs. This review clearly indicates that co-digestion of municipal organic waste with night soil and cow dung is one of the most effective biological processes to treat a wide variety of solid organic wastes and the use of these wastes for biogas production. In addition, this review briefly discussed the factors affecting biogas production and analytical methods.Keywords: Biogas, anaerobic digestion, municipal solid waste, pretreatmen

Determinants of Choosing a Particular Dairy Marketing Arrangement and Assessing Its Impact on Household Livelihood Evidence from Northern Ethiopia, Tigray

This study aims at identifying determinants of choosing a particular dairy marketing arrangement and assessing the impact of the arrangement to household livelihood. 387 households in four woredas of Tigray were administered through structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logit models were employed to determine the significance of the factors affecting selection of a particular marketing arrangement. The three methods of coordination implemented in the areas were spot, contracts and cooperative market, but cooperative was dominantly exercised in the dairy chain. Propensity Score Matching was also employed to examine the impact of marketing arrangements on household livelihood in terms of asset formation, milk production and human capital. Free riding and lack of commitment were the problems in cooperative marketing as indicated by focus group discussion. Long Fasting dates and feed constraints have identified as a negative impact for milk selling and production in the selected sites. Model results indicated that cooperative marketing arrangement in general, provides higher prices, stable market, producing larger volume of milk and higher income to producers than other marketing arrangements. Price volatility was high in spot marketing arrangement as compared to contract and cooperative marketing. The results of this study showed amount of milk production, price flexibility, active local administrative participation and distance to main market significantly affecting the producer’s choice for cooperative marketing in relative to spot and contract marketing arrangement. Among the three marketing arrangements, contract marketing arrangement offered higher buyer access in the market. Volume of milk production, price flexibility, distance to the main market and active local administration participation were significant and positively related for the choice of cooperative marketing arrangement. The model result also indicated vertical coordination was a mechanism for enhancing producer’s livelihood in terms of asset accumulation and milk production for the market. The study has a potential policy implication for improving dairy marketing arrangement and livelihood of producers through promotion of large private investment in the area, which at the end will introduce new technology in the sector such as improved cross breed cow, feed and veterinary service

Climate change and livestock production in Ethiopia

Agriculture which includes crop production, animal husbandry livestock, forestry, fisheries and apiculture remains by far the most important sector of the country from which livestock constitutes the largest component of the Ethiopian agricultural sector. The livestock population of the country that reaches more than 80 million heads is the largest in Africa and the 10th in the world. The recent livestock population estimates that the country has about 52.1 million heads of cattle, 24.2 million sheep, 22.6 million goats and 44.9 million poultry. Ethiopia is also the continent’s top livestock exporter. However, livestock production in Ethiopia is heavily dependent on climate change and variability, and Ethiopia is among those countries most vulnerable to climate risks in Africa. So, this paper aims to give an overview on the effects of climate change on livestock production in Ethiopia. Key words: Climate change, livestock production, Ethiopi