ABSTRACT
Despite Ethiopia is endowed with diverse genetic base for the Arabica coffee and is the center of origin, there is still a limited availability of yield competitive improved variety; hence, the national average productivity is far below the world’s average. Due to this reason, the national average productivity is very low. From the various sets of pure lines variety development program in Ethiopia, it had been observed that it is rarely possible to improve yield above 1800-2000 kg/ha through direct selection indicating the need to look heterotic hybrids to maximize yield as high as 2500- 3000 kg/ha. Thus, it could be useful to further evaluate the performance of the best performing hybrids for yield and growth characters at full bearing stage to identify high yielding hybrids for commercial use. Therefore, to bridge this gap and improve coffee productivity, it is essential to develop hybrid coffee varieties that are high yielding, stable and disease resistant. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate coffee hybrid genotypes for yield and yield components. The experiment was conducted at Awada and Leku to depict the growth and yield characteristics of four Arabica coffee promising hybrid genotypes). The experiment was conducted by using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications during the years from 2016 to 2021. Data were collected for plant height, number of primary branches, number of secondary branches, length of the longest primary branch, number of main stem nodes, stem girth, internode length on the main stem, canopy diameter and yield for three consecutive years (2019 to 2021) per hectare basis. The results revealed the existence of statistically significant variations among the growth characters. Total plant height (1.99-2.45m), stem diameter (2.82–3.45cm), canopy diameter (199– 221.77cm), number of main stem nodes (27.96 – 30.66), number of primary branches (52.08 – 58.83), number of secondary branches (148.23 – 179.25), average ...

ABSTRACT
Coffee is one of the commercial crops grown in many countries including Ethiopia. It contributes for 60% of total GDP in the country. Eight specialty coffee varieties with recommended packages were distributed among farmers in Sidama region and Gedeo zone. This study examines the status of these varieties managed by farmers on their field. Status was investigated against seedling survival rate and varietal uniformity with the objective of establishing specialty coffee seed source. A multistage sampling technique was applied from zonal to kebele levels of administration. Samples were taken purposively at zonal and Woreda levels. Since all Kebeles in the selected Woredas grow specialty coffee, random sampling of these units was done including specific farmer sites. Semi structured questionnaire was applied to generate quantitative data while field level observation and group discussions were conducted to elicit qualitative data. For data analysis, SPSS version 20 was used. Survival rates of the coffee seedlings were 93 and 94.5% for Gedeo and Sidama zones, respectively. Only 5.04% of the respondents planted the distributed seedlings between existing coffee varieties. Hence, 94.96% specialty coffee uniformity was achieved. Finally, it is concluded that nearly 95% of the coffee growers have met the target to serve as specialty coffee seed source in both zones. However, more studies are needed for precise judgment of the surveyed farmers as specialty coffee seed sources of a uniform variety.

ABSTRACT
Agriculture and its products are being negatively impacted by climate change, which is concerning the entire world. The production of coffee is heavily reliant on a predictable series of meteorological conditions. Coffee quality and productivity levels are directly impacted by changes in temperature, precipitation patterns, storms, strong winds, and other extreme weather occurrences. This study evaluated coffee production, growth requirements, climate change factors, and the effects of climate change on coffee yields and quality. There is also discussion of potential ways to lessen the impact of climate change on coffee quality and productivity.

ABSTRACT
An experiment was carried out to determination of different effects of hot water and immersion on Total Soluble Solids (TSS) of Different Banana Varieties. The experiment comprised three factors, namely hot water treatments (control, 45°C, 50°C, and 55°C), times of immersion (five minutes and ten minutes) and varieties (Mehersagar and Sabri). The experiment was laid out in completely randomized design with three replications. Main effect of hot water treatments, immersion periods and varieties were showed significant on percent total soluble solid. An increasing trend in TSS contents was observed in all treatments at all stages of ripening. Incase of main effect maximum TSS was found in Control temperature, Sabri variety and five minutes immersion periods respectively. Between two Banana varieties Sabri showed maximum TSS than Mehersagar in all treated conditions. The control treatments consistently showed higher TSS than the treated bananas, although none remained fresh by the 9th day. Five minutes immersed fruits showed maximum TSS than ten minutes in main and combined treatments. Longer immersion period had significantly effects and less increase TSS of the bananas than shorter immersion period. Among the treatments, both varieties showed lowest TSS in five minutes immersion at 50°C temperature than other treatments. Hot water treatment is better than untreated banana for storage and quality of banana.

ABSTRACT
Participatory on-farm pre-extension demonstrations of soil test crop responses fertilizer recommendations were carried out for bread wheat production in the Sinana District. The study aimed to evaluate and demonstrate soil test crop responses fertilizer recommendations for bread wheat production and to enhance farmers' understanding and capabilities. The experiment was conducted across seven farmers' fields, with each field allocated 0.25 hectares per treatment. The treatments applied were based on specific recommendations using optimum nitrogen (46 kgha-1), phosphors requirement factor (Pf) (5.24), phosphorus critical level (Pc) (22 ppm) using bread wheat Galan verity 150 kgha-1 as test crop. During the experimental conducted in the Sinana District, two Farmer Research Groups (FRGs) having a total of 15 members were established. The results indicated that the highest grain yield of 60.325 kgha-1 was achieved with soil test-based fertilizer recommendations, while the lowest yield of 44.25 kgha-1 was obtained using traditional farmer practices. Soil test-based fertilizer recommendations significantly enhanced grain yield compared to traditional farmer practices, highlighting the effectiveness of targeted fertilizer application in optimizing crop production. Furthermore, the partial budget analysis demonstrated that soil test-based fertilizer recommendations yielded a net profit of 310,563.66 birr, with a remarkable marginal rate of return of 1190.83%. In contrast, the blanket recommendations used in traditional farmer practices were less profitable. Therefore, the dissemination of soil test-based fertilizer recommendations should be prioritized in the Sinana District and similar soil type and agroecology through scaling up and large-scale production is recommended.

ABSTRACT
Soil salinity problem is predominantly severe in developing countries, particularly in arid and semiarid regions, resulting in short-term damage to people's livelihoods and long-term repercussions on the country's food security. It is also a major challenge in Ethiopia and west Hararghe in particular where small-scale irrigated agriculture is practiced. Against this backdrop, this study was conducted to assess irrigation water quality in dry season wheat production in Dhungeta, Hule Mandhera, and Kinteri irrigation sites in west Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia. Based on an in-situ field survey, 9 composite irrigation water samples were collected by mixing several sub-samples. The mean water pH at Dhungeta (7.00), Hule Mandhera (7.94), and Kinteri (7.45) fields were grouped in the normal range for irrigation water. The salinity hazard of irrigation water at Dhungeta was medium (0.67 dSm-1), Hule Mandhera high (1.03 dSm-1) and Kinteri (0.99 dSm-1). The total mean of dissolved salt showed water has no restriction for use at Kinteri (153.6 mg L-1) and Dhungeta (426.67 mg L-1) while slight to moderate restriction of water for use was recorded at Hule Mandhera (708.27 mg L-1). The sodicity (alkalinity) hazard class of irrigation water was S1 (low sodium hazard). The mean of residual sodium carbonate was a marginal hazard at Hule Mandhera and safe at Dhungeta and Kinteri. Based on the permeability index, magnesium hazard water was found to be suitable for irrigation. Kelley’s index, Percentage sodium (Na+ %), and potential salinity specified that Hule Mandhera water is unsuitable whereas Dhungeta and Kinteri water were suitable for irrigation. Irrigation water is grouped as a low restriction (70-85) based on the irrigation water quality index. Generally, there is a prospect to decide that the irrigation water quality of the study sites is suitable for wheat production.

ABSTRACT
Nutrient mining due to sub-optimal fertilizer use on one hand and unbalanced fertilizer use on the other have favored the emergence of multi-nutrient deficiency in Ethiopian soils. Therefore, the study was conducted on twenty-six farmers' fields in Dugda District of East Shewa Zone of Oromia, during the main cropping seasons of 2018-2020. These studies were conducted to determine the economically optimum rate of nitrogen fertilizer in the first year Phosphorus critical (Pc) and phosphorus requirement factor (Pf) in the second year respectively. The treatments consisted of factorial combinations of three levels of TSP (0, 100, and 200) kg ha-1 with six levels of nitrogen (0, 23, 46, 69 92, and 115) kg ha-1 that gave a total of eighteen treatments. However, in the second two consecutive years, the experiment was conducted to determine phosphorus critical (Pc) and phosphorus requirement factor (Pf), and the treatments consisted of six levels of phosphorus (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50) kg ha-1 combined with a single level of nitrogen (69 kg ha-1) that gave a total of seven treatments. The experiments were laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two replications and the gross plot size was 4 m x 5 m (20 m2) were used to determine optimum nitrogen in the first year and 4m x 5m (20 m2) and phosphorus critical (Pc) and also harvested from 4m2 plot areas. The analysis of variance indicated that Plant height, spike length, number of seeds per spike, biomass yield, and grain yield were highly significantly (p <0.01) influenced by the main effect of nitrogen fertilizer rates. However except for the number of seed per spike, TSP fertilizer significantly (p<0.05) affect plant height and the number of seed per spike as well as highly significantly (p <0.01) biomass and grain yield of bread wheat. The highest (68.76 cm) plant height, the highest (41.02) seed per spike, the highest (8867 kg ha-1) biomass, and the highest (3293 kg ha-1) grain yield were recorded by 200