Ethiopia is claimed to be a center of diversity for cowpea production. The crop is the most drought tolerant and could help the country overcome the recurrent drought problem; however, the yield is very low due to lack of effort to develop varieties. This research was conducted to evaluate the stability of cowpea genotypes and to estimate the magnitude of genotypes by environment interaction (GEI) effect on grain yield. Sixteen cowpea genotypes were tested at seven environments in an experiment laid out in a 4 × 4 triple lattice design during 2016/17 cropping season. The combined analysis of variance over environments showed significant differences among genotypes and environments, along with significant effect of GEI on grain yield, days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height and pods per plants. Analysis of variance for grain yield from AMMI model indicated the contribution of genotype and environment, with GEI accounting for about 63.3, 5.3 and 29.7% of the total sum of squares, respectively. The result indicated that environments contributed much to the observed variations suggesting the need to test cowpea genotypes in diverse environments. Considering all stability parmeters, viz; deviation from regression (S 2 di), coefficient of regression (bi) from ER's model, IPCA1, IPCA2 and AMMI stability value (ASV) from AMMI model, GGE biplot and variety TVU was identified as the most stable with mean yield above the mean grain yield of genotypes. Two genotypes: IT-99K-1060a (1398.8 kg/ha) and 86D-378 (1377.1 kg/ha) had first and second highest yield, identified as responsive to both environments but more to favorable environments suggesting the need to further test and develop as varieties. The other two genotypes: 95K-1095-4A and 93K-619-1, identified as unstable and highly responsive to environments suggested to consider the genotypes as candidate varieties where they performed best. Melkassa, Sekota and Jinka were identified as more descrimnating environments, whereas Arbaminch and Kobo were ideal for selecting superior genotypes; however, Babile and Meisso were non descrimnating environments. Key words:Additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) stability value, Eberhart and Russell, deviation from regression and triple lattice.

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Cowpea is truly a multifunctional crop, providing food for man and livestock and serving as a valuable and dependable revenue-generating commodity for farmers and grain traders. Cowpea is of major importance to the livelihoods of millions of people in less developed countries of the tropics. It is consumed in many forms. Young leaves, green pods, and green seeds are used as vegetables, and dry seeds are used in various food preparations with 25% protein (on dry-weight basis) in its seeds and tender leaves, cowpea is a major source of protein, minerals, and vitamins in the daily diets in Africa, and thus it positively influences the health of men, women and children. The bulk of the diet of the rural and urban poor in Africa consists of starchy food made from cassava, yam, plantain and banana, millet, sorghum, and maize. The addition of even a small amount of cowpea ensures a nutritional balance and enhances the protein quality by the synergistic effect of high protein and high lysine from cowpea and high methionine and high energy from the starchy foods. Trading fresh produce and processed cowpea foods and snacks provides rural and urban women opportunity for earning cash income. A good knowledge of crop taxonomy contributes to an efficient use of germplasm for hybridization in the breeding programs. In addition, the results of hybridizations and cross compatibilities provide the basis for improving plant classification. Large and diverse cowpea germplasm collections are available to the researchers around the world, especially in Africa, to exploit the valuable genes to improve cowpea cultivars.

Information on the diversity of landraces, cultivation practices, and feeding habits is necessary to improve the crops through selection and/or hybridization. This study was conducted to generate information to document cropping practices, values, and socio-cultural aspects of fenugreek. A study was conducted in five districts of Oromia and one yem special districts at Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Regional States, and data were collected using structured and semi-structured interviews from 144 general and 24 key informants. Assessment of data was conducted through interviews with informants regarding cropping systems of the specific landraces, plant nomenclature of traditional landraces, distinctive criteria of each landrace, and use of fenugreek. R software version 4.1.2 and MS Excel 2010 were used to analyze qualitative data, quantify, sort, determine proportions and draw figures, percentages, means, and tables. The result indicated that Hulbata guracha and Hulbata Dima in Eastern Hararghe and Abesha abish and Orome abish in Yem Special district were reported as popular farmers’ cultivars. The farmers named the cultivars mainly based on seed color, seed source, and taste. Sole cropping of fenugreek was more common in Yem special district (65.3%), whereas intercropping with sorghum and Catha edulis (khat) was common in East Hararghe (27.3%) and crop rotation was practiced in both East Hararghe (97.2%) and Yem especial district (88.8%). The farmers in the study area use fenugreek mainly as food in East Hararghe (100%) while in Yem special district used mainly as a spice (100%). This is due to socio-cultural and knowledge differences on the importance of fenugreek in the study area that influence feeding habits, cultivation practice, and uses.

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn.) is a staple food crop in droughtprone areas. An experiment was conducted in Konso zone and Dirashe districts, Southern Ethiopia, in order to obtain high yielding varieties using eight improved and one local finger millet varieties in 2018. The experiment was laid down in a randomized completely block design with three replications. The combined analysis of variance for grain yield revealed a significant effect (P < 0.05) due to varieties, locations, and their interactions. Combined mean yield of varieties indicated that Bonaya (2992 kg/ha), Padet (2909 kg/ha), Wama (2733 kg/ha), and Tessama (2727 kg/ ha) had the highest grain yield without significant difference among the four and had yield advantage of 41.8%, 38.7%, 31.9%, and 31.7% compared to the local check (1899 kg/ha), in the given order. The present study revealed that Bonaya, Padet, Wama, and Tessama varieties could be recommended for further pre-extension and dissemination in the study areas and similar agro-ecologies.

Sweet potato is important sources of carbohydrates, vitamins A and C, fiber, iron, potassium, and protein, Sweet potato is also used as animal feed. Increasing recognition of the great potential of the sweet potato crop as a nutritious food for humans and animals has resulted in intensified research efforts to enhance production and consumption. Sweet potato is sensitive to water deficits particularly during the establishment period including vine development and storage root initiation. However, drought is often a major environmental constraint for sweet potato production in areas where it is grown under rain fed conditions. Different cultivars may respond differently to limited quantities of soil water. Selection for good cultivar performance under drought conditions is thus considered to be of major importance.

Information on the diversity of landraces is necessary to improve crops through selection or hybridization. This study was conducted to show the diversity of fenugreek landraces and associated traits. A total of 160 accessions including one local and four improved standard checks were evaluated in an augmented block design at the Haramaya University research site in 2016. Data collected include days to flowering, days to maturity, seed yield (kg/ha), thousand seed weight (g), the number of primary branches, plant height at flowering (cm), the number of pods per plant, the number of secondary branches, average pod length (cm), the number of seeds per pod, and seed yield per plant (g/plant) of quantitative traits. The analysis of variance revealed the existence of significant differences between accessions of all parameters. Genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation departed from 5.95–56.91% and 6.47–58.88%. Heritability in the broad sense and expected genetic gain as percent mean varied from 60.9 to 96.1% and from 2.5 to 70.3%. The seed yield per plant, the number of secondary branches, and the number of pod per plant had positive direct effects on the yield at both genotypic and phenotypic levels and the number of primary branches, and the average pod length via seed yield per plant, while the number of seeds per plant through the number of primary branches and the number of pods per plant had a positive indirect effect on the yield at the genotypic level, suggesting that these traits could be considered for indirect selection of genotypes for yield. The genetic distances of genotypes measured by Euclidean distance ranged from 0.07 to 10.6, and the dendrogram was constructed by using the unweighted pair group method using arithmetic mean. The presence of variability among fenugreek accessions suggested possibilities to improve the crop through the crossing of distant genotypes. This was an excellent opportunity to contribute to farmers’ food security and livelihoods by bringing about the improvement of fenugreek.