In breeding for drought tolerance, availability of precise, cheap and easy to apply selection tool is critical. The aim of the present study was to identify potential screening tools that are useful for selection of drought tolerant genotypes in potato and select drought resistant potato genotypes. The study assessed sixty clones arranged in a 10×6 alpha lattice design with two replicates in a managed stress experiment. Two irrigation treatments were applied: fully watered non-stress and terminal drought, where the irrigation water supply to the crop was withheld after 50 % flowering to induce post-flowering stress. Stress indices were calculated based on tuber yield of genotypes in both stressed and non-stressed conditions. Identification of drought tolerant genotypes based on a single index was less informative as different indices identified different genotypes as drought tolerant. Hence, to determine the most desirable drought tolerant clones rank sum of indices, correlation, and bi-plot display of the principal component analysis was employed. The indices modified stress tolerance index based on non-stressed yield, Men productivity, Geometric mean productivity, Stress tolerance index, Harmonic mean, modified stress tolerance index based on stressed yield and Yield index exhibited strong association with both yield under stressed and non-stressed yield. These indices discriminated drought tolerant genotypes with higher tuber yielding potential both under stress and non-stress conditions. Genotypes CIP-398180.612, CIP-397069.5, and CIP-304371.67 were identified as drought tolerant. These genotypes could be potentially grown both under drought prone and potential environments and these selection attributes could help to develop climate resilient potato varieties.

This paper examines factors determining farmers‘ adoption decision for improved maize varieties in the maize-common bean intercropping practices in two districts of East Hararghe zone, Eastern Ethiopia. It is based on data collected from 129 farm households using structured questionnaire. Descriptive results revealed that adopters of improved maize varieties had better food and nutrition security status. Furthermore, logit model output indicated that the decision to adopt improved maize varieties is influenced by location (district) dummy, education status of the household head, age of the household head, distance from the main road, and the number of plots owned. Major recommendations include improving the rural road infrastructure, educating and training farmers, organizing experience sharing events among farmers, and raising awareness about the food and nutrition security benefits of sustainable agricultural intensification practices like intercropping improved maize with improved common bean varieties.

Various biotic, abiotic and socio-economic factors negatively affect the productivity of the crop. Among these, a new disease known as Faba bean galls (Olpidium viciae) has become a serious threat to faba bean production and productivity in highland areas of central and northern Ethiopia. Thus, field experiment was conducted in Lay Gorebela and Mush to assess the efficacies of fungicides for the management of faba bean gall under natural infection. Six fungicides were evaluated alongside control in randomized complete block design in three replications. Fungicides showed different levels of efficiency at both locations in both seasons. In 2014/15, the highest percent severity index and area under disease progress curve were calculated from control plots at both locations. At Lay Gorebela, higher grain yields were recorded from Metalaxyl 8% + Mancozeb 64% WP and Triadimefon 250 g/L sprayed plots whereas plots sprayed with Metalaxyl 8% + Mancozeb 64% WP gave higher yield at Mush. Similar trends in percent severity index and grain yield were observed with control treatment in 2015/16. Percent severity index and area under disease progress curve were negatively correlated with grain yield and positively correlated with each other at both locations and seasons. Partial budget analysis indicated as Triadimefon 250 g/L and Metalaxyl 8% + Mancozeb 64% WP were cost-effective. The chemical treatment could be used as a short-term control strategy, and a component in integrated management of faba bean galls

Conservation agriculture is a concept which defines different farming systems. Its implementation depends on soil properties, climate and socio-economic considerations. Since two thousands, no-till technology; which is one facet of the conservation agriculture has begun to take place in the high plains of Sétif province-Algeria. Its adoption is facing several problems of socio-economic and technical issues. This work monitored the track of no-till adoption within a sample of 28 farmers during two years 2014 and 2016. During 2014 farmers were supported financially and technically through a subsidy program that aimed at the support of conservation agriculture via no-till technique. In 2016, the subsidy program has ended; hence, farmers have no longer incentives. Multivariate statistical analyses were performed to diagnose the evolution of no-till adoption and behavior’s farmers between the two periods. In 2016, results showed an increase of no-till area, even though, the drop of the number of adoptive farmers by 71%. The main reasons for adopting no-till according to the adoptive farmers were the minimization of farming operation costs and saving time. However, the major impediments facing no-till adoption; were the rise of weeding charges and the concern of weed infestation especially by bromus.sp, which is a vigorous prevalent weed, which locally developed some pesticide’s resistance. Also, the excessive use of pesticides may be considered as an environmental reason for no adopting no-till.

This study was conducted on a total of 776 goats (part of Central highland goat breeds of Ethiopia), 306 from Boset district of Oromia region and 470 were from Minjar Shenkora district of Amhara region. A format developed by using food and agriculture organization discerption list was used for recording of morphological traits, bodyweight and linear body measurements. Both qualitative and quantitative traits were recorded from randomly sampled mature goats and the data were analyzed using SAS software. The goat type in the study area was characterized by a higher proportion of plain coat color patterns (62.5). Ingeneral, the majority (98.4%) of the studied goats were horned and characterized by backward orientation (67%) with a straight shape (49.3%). They presented a concave facial profile (73.8%), slop up toward the rump back profile (66.2%), no wattle (99.6%), no toggle (90.7%), no ruff (85.9%) and no beard (57.3%). The location had a significant effect on body weight and some other linear body measurements. Traits like body length, rump length, horn length, head length, head width and shin circumference were significantly higher in Boset district. In contrast, rump width and cannon bone length were significantly lower. The mean body weight of male goats in Boset and Minjar Shenkora district were 30.5±1.05 kg with a range of 16 to 47 and 27.5±0.56 with a range of 13 to 57, respectively. While for female counterpart mean body weights (kg) were 28.4±0.35 with a range of 17 to 45 for Boset and 27.5±0.33 with a range 15 to 57 for Minjar Shenkora district. Heart girth had the highest correlation with body weight in both sexes and shoulder width in Boset male goats. The wider variation in most quantitative measurement traits would open an opportunity for further improvement, conservation and utilization work.

Agriculture is a cornerstone of the economy, providing livelihoods for a significant portion of population. However, climate change significantly affects people, their lifestyles, and the ecosystems posing a critical challenge to the global community, particularly the underprivileged in developing nations. Recognizing the indispensable role of agriculture and the challenges posed by a changing climate, this paper emphasizes the paramount need for proactive adaptation strategies. Central to these strategies is the pivotal concept of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA), a multifaceted approach that encompasses a range of practices, including agroforestry, conservation agriculture, and the adoption of climate-resilient crop varieties. Delving deeper, the paper navigates through the farmer's perceptions, unraveling their understanding of climate change, and the complex barriers like social barriers, institutional limitations, financial barriers, and limited awareness that impede effective adaptation, and illuminates the instrumental roles that governmental bodies and institutions, and extension agents play in shaping and fostering climate-resilient practices. Collaboration between local communities, governments, and non-governmental organizations is essential to ensure the successful implementation of sustainable adaptation strategies. Embracing sustainable and forward-thinking approaches, particularly CSA, including agroforestry, conservation agriculture, water management techniques, climate-resilient crop varieties, ICT, and climate-smart pest management, the agricultural sector gains the potential to bolster its resilience against climate-induced disruptions, ensuring consistent agricultural output that contributes significantly to broader food security initiatives.

According to the purpose of use, the buildings are named with names such as residences, commercial buildings, health buildings, social structures, educational buildings, sports buildings, worship buildings, etc., and classifications are made for agricultural buildings as rural structures, animal-plant production structures and protection-storage structures. It has become important to determine the type and thickness of the insulation material that will provide the most economic benefit to reduce the energy costs consumed by reducing thermal losses/gains in all building types and to reduce the damage caused by waste gases to people, the environment and especially agricultural production. In order to reduce thermal losses and gains in building exterior walls and to reduce heating-cooling costs, it has become important to determine the type and thickness of insulation material that will provide the most economic benefit. In this study, optimum insulation thicknesses, annual savings, payback period and reduction in CO2 emissions were calculated for heating and heating-cooling application in Tokat. DD method and LCA method were used for thermal and economic analysis. XPS and RW were chosen as insulation materials according to two different wall types, natural gas for heating and electricity for cooling as energy sources. The payback period and CO2 emission were calculated with a lower value in the use of XPS insulation material than in RW insulation material. For this reason, it has been determined that it is more appropriate to prefer XPS insulation material in terms of economy and environment only in heating and heating-cooling application.

Seed priming is a promising pre-sowing physiological treatment that utilizes a high osmotic potential solution and stores reserves in seed material to enhance germination. This study is aimed to investigate the influence of different seed priming methods in the germination and early seedling stages of cucumber. A completely random design (CRD) was used for the experiment, including six priming treatments, i.e., T1 (control), T2 (hydropriming), T3 (halopriming 0.5% NaCl), T4 (osmopriming 0.5% PEG), T5 (buffalo milk), and lastly T6 (cow urine). There was a significant effect of seed priming; the highest water imbibition was observed on halopriming (53.71%) and buffalo milk (53.53%); however, the highest germination percentage was observed in cow urine (93.75%), with the least mean germination time (3.65). The highest seedling length, root lengths, and shoot length were also observed on cow urine priming. The dry weight and moisture content were also observed to be highest in cow urine priming. Different priming techniques significantly impact cucumber seed germination and growth. Cow urine priming is the most effective, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly pre-sowing method for cucumber seedlings, benefiting farmers and promoting better germination without harming the environment.

Anthropogenic activities with increasing population lead the pollution of ecosystems. Over one-third of the world's water resources are utilized for agricultural, domestic, and industrial activities, resulting in contamination by synthetic, and geogenic compounds such as dyes, fertilizers, pesticides, and heavy metals. Among these pollutants, dyes are particularly noteworthy due to their extensive use across various sectors, making them one of the leading contributors to water pollution. For this reason, dyes are one of the most important pollutants that cause water pollution. Therefore, the adsorption of Bromophenol blue (BPB) was studied in this study. Firstly, PGMA gels were produced by polymerizing of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) monomer. Secondly, the PGMA gels were modified to prepare the new adsorbents for the adsorption of BPB dye. Thirdly, the adsorption of BPB dye was carried out. The batch adsorption method was used. The optimum adsorbent amount, initial BPB concentration, pH, and temperature parameters for PGMA gels were determined. The adsorption mechanism between modified PGMA gels, and BPB dye was elucidated by Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin-Radushkevich, and Temkin isotherm models. As a result, it was seen that modified PGMA gels showed good performance in the adsorption of BPB.

Mevcut çalışma, Kahramanmaraş ilinin Onikişubat ilçesinde yetiştiricilik yapan 25 Kıl keçisi yetiştiricisinin gönüllü katılımıyla 2018 yılında 4867 baş teke altı keçi ve 230 baş damızlık teke ile başlatılmış ve çalışma beş yıl boyunca sürdürülmüştür. Bu çalışma ile halk elinde yetiştirilen Kıl keçilerinin döl verimi ve büyüme özellikleri bakımından ıslahı amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaçla, keçilerde belirlenen döl verim kriterleri ile oğlakların doğum ağırlıkları, sütten kesim canlı ağırlıkları (90 gün), günlük canlı ağırlık kazançları ve yaşama gücü gibi büyüme özellikleri yıl bazında kaydedilmiştir. Her yıl sürüye eklenecek damızlık materyal seçimlerinde Kıl keçisi ırkına ait morfolojik özellikler ve oğlakların doğum ve sütten kesim ağırlıkları dikkate alınarak en iyi büyüme ve damızlık özelliği gösteren erkek oğlakların yaklaşık %10’u dişi oğlakların ise %50’si damızlık olarak seçilmiştir. Çalışmanın sonunda, yıllara göre doğum oranının %54,21 ile %76,93, ikizlik oranının %21,64 ile %27,19, oğlak veriminin %65,94 ile %94,66 ve doğum başına düşen oğlak sayısının 1,22 ile 1,27 arasında olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Kıl keçisi oğlaklarının yıllara göre doğum ağırlıkları 3,11 kg ile 3,19 kg, sütten kesim ağırlıkları 17,09 kg ile 18,63 kg, sütten kesime yaşına kadar günlük canlı ağırlık kazançları 154,63 ile 171,55 g ve yaşama gücünün %92,27 ile %95,34 arasında olduğu saptanmıştır. Bu sonuçlara göre oğlakların büyüme performansı (P<0,001) ve yaşama gücü değerlerinde çalışmanın başladığı yıla göre diğer yıllarda artışlar sağlanmıştır. Ayrıca, büyüme performansı ve yaşama gücü dikkate alındığında, cinsiyete ve doğum tipine bağlı olarak erkek ve tek doğan oğlakların sırasıyla dişi ve ikiz doğan oğlaklara kıyasla daha yüksek performans ve yaşama gücü değerleri sağladığı belirlenmiştir.