Objective To investigate the relation of child dietary diversity and household food insecurity along with other socio-demographic with child anthropometric indices in north-central Ethiopia, an area with a high level of food insecurity and inadequate diet quality. Design A community-based cross-sectional study was used. Settings The study was conducted in Dessie and Combolcha towns of north-central Ethiopia from April to May 2018. Participants Randomly selected 512 mother-child pairs with child’s age range of 6–59 months. Results The mean (± SD) scores of weight-for-height/length, height/length-for-age, weight-for-age, and BMI-for-age Z-scores were 1.35 (± 2.03), − 1.89 (± 1.79), 0.05 (± 1.54), and 1.39 (± 2.06), respectively. From all anthropometric indicators, stunting and overweight/obesity remained the severe public issues hitting 43% and 42% of the children, respectively. In the model, mothers’ age and education and child’s age, sex, and dietary diversity were significantly related with child height-for-age Z-score while place of residence, sex of household head, child’s age, and dietary diversity score were the predictors of child BMI-for-age Z-score in the urban contexts of the study area. Nevertheless, food insecurity was not related to any of the child anthropometric indices. Conclusion The double burden of malnutrition epidemics (stunting and obesity) coexisted as severe public health concerns in urban settings. Anthropometric statuses of children were affected by multidimensional factors and seek strong integration and immediate intervention of multiple sectors.

Salinity adversely affects 20-30% of the irrigated area in the world. Tomato is sensitive to salinity. It is one of the most severe abiotic factors of many agricultural crops and it becoming the main problem in Ethiopia. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different salinity levels on the seed germination parameters of tomato varieties. It was laid out in a completely randomized design with three replicates. The treatment included four tomato varieties (Sirinka, Weyno, ARP D2, and Roma VF) and five salinity levels (1 dS m-1, 2 dS m-1, 3 dS m-1, 4 dS m-1, and control). Fifty seeds were placed in a Petri dish over a moistened germination paper for germination and seedlings and allowed to grow for 14 days. The germination rate, speed and energy of tomato seeds were significantly (p < 0.001) affected by the combined effect of variety and salinity. The shortest mean germination time, the highest mean germination rate, and the highest speed of germination were recorded in the ARP D2 variety in the control treatment. The lowest first and last days of germination, and the uncertainty of germination were recorded from ARP D2. However, an increase in the days of germination and in the uncertainty of germination, and a decrease in the germination index and total germination percentage trends were observed with increasing salinity levels. The highest level of salinity (4 dS m-1) affected the germination of tomato varieties. Among the four tested tomato varieties, ARP D2 and Roma VF were tolerant to salinity.

The experiment was conducted to determine the effect of integrated postharvest chemical, packaging and storage treatments on weight loss and sugar content of cactus pear fruits. The treatments were factorial combinations of chemical (Control, 0.022 mM Salicylic Acid, and 27 mM CaCl 2 ), two packaging (unpackaged and packaged with polyethylene sheet) and two storage condition (ambient and evaporative cooler (EC)) in completely randomized design with three replications. Temperature and relative humidity of storage environments, weight and decay loss, and reducing and total sugar content of cactus pear fruits were recorded during 21 days of storage. EC significantly maintained parameters of cactus pear fruits tested by reducing mean temperature 2.81°C and increasing relative humidity by 11%. Packaging also reduced weight and decay loss and maintained sugar contents. Similarly, CaCl 2 treatment enabled better retention of weight and sugar content of cactus pear fruits followed by Salicylic acid. Hence, integrated use of CaCl 2 , packaging and EC are recommended to maintain lower weight and decay loss and higher reducing and total sugar contents and to extending shelf life of cactus pear fruits.

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