Abstract: Warqe/enset processing is carried out dominantly by rural women using traditional tools such as bamboo scraper, serrated wooden tool and metal knife where losses in quality and quantity are exceptionally high. Above all, the traditional way of warqe/enset processing causes to much physically drudgery among the rural women. In an effort to alleviate the problem, an engine driven warqe/enset decorticating machine was designed, constructed, tested and evaluated. The performance evalua...
Abstract: For most Ethiopian rural households, food insecurity has been the most critical concern. Small-scale irrigation is among the first measures in increasing vegetable production, diversifying household assets and income, and improving household food security. This study measured the impact of small-scale irrigation use on household vegetable production and food security using outcome indicators of household food consumption score, household dietary diversity score and yield of onion. ...
Abstract: Rice is one of the most important cereal crops in Fogera Plain. Despite its potential and production in Ethiopia, its productivity varies from year to year and over locations due to seasonal and intra-seasonal climate variability and household characteristics. The objectives of this study were to identify rice farm typologies, drivers of rice yield, climate change, and adaptation strategies to analyze climate variability and trend changes, and to assess dry spell management practic...
Abstract: The significance of spice technology in enhancing production and productivity can be realized when yield increasing technologies are extensively used and diffused.This research addresses the case of improved turmeric variety that has been intensively promoted in major producing area to enhance the level and degree of technology use among smallholder farmers.Hence,in this study, an attempt was made to examine factors affecting adoption and intensityof use of improved turmeric variet...
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate determinant factors of renting-in threshing machine and the impact of machine renting-in service on reduction of threshing cost of the household. To address the objectives the study used cross-sectional data collected from 180 machine users and non-users households in Haramaya district. Sample size of respondent from each selected two kebeles was determined using probability proportional to size sampling technique. The sample f...
Abstract: Ethiopian economy is highly dependent on agriculture, especially crop production takes the major share in economic growth. Hence, supporting the sector through introducing new agricultural technologies, like row planting technology is crucial. However, application of better technologies remained low in Ethiopia and also in the study area due to several factors. Therefore, study was to assess the status of adoption decision of wheat row planting technology and identify factors affec...
Abstract: Tef is the major crop grown in Ethiopia and the study area. However, its productivity is low mainly due to limited use of improved varieties and low soil fertility as result of intensive soil erosion and long history of cultivation. Therefore ,a field experiment was carried out on a farmer’s field at Gelan Akaki district during the 2018 main cropping season (from July to November 2018) to assess the response of tef varieties to blended NPSB fertilizer rates and to identify the ec...
Abstract: In a rural part of many developing countries including Ethiopia; it is difficult to use modern incubator due to shortage of electricity and high initial capital as well as operating cost. Therefore, this experiment was conducted at Haramaya University poultry farm, Eastern Ethiopia to develop a solar powered incubator and compare its performance and profitability with the modern electric incubator. Solar powered incubator was developed and its performance was compared with modern e...
Early sprouting of yam tuber is a typical problem during storage resulting into weight losses, deterioration, shrinkage and reduction in quality. This study investigated the application of vibration technique to control sprouting in yam tubers during storage. A mechanical yam vibrator having adjustable frequencies and amplitudes was developed with vibrating chamber of capacity size of 670 × 570 × 180 mm3 which can contain four tubers of yam at a time. The physical properties (length, n...
Agriculture, its operations, and soils properties are inter-related. Cultivation of crops; tillage, irrigation and farm operations, commuting to and from farm plot and building of structures are greatly influenced by the soil specifically its properties. Shear stress, cohesion and angle of friction are parameters that play major roles in influencing how soils are used or worked on. It is, therefore, important to determine the shear stress, cohesion and angle of friction of the soils in Kade a...
In the world today, due to the high cost of running a tractor on a farm, there has been many research to see ways of minimizing this cost. Some of these cost come from the tire of the tractor, amount of fuel needed to run the vehicle smoothly, buying spare parts of the tractor and ensuring safety of the tractor. This thesis seeks to find the effect that tire pressures of vehicles have on the fuel consumption and the various ways of reducing this effect if there are any. An experiment was cond...
ABSTRACT A non-weighing lysimeter was designed, fabricated, tested and installed at Arochukwu, Abia State, Nigeria, where the farmers who engage in dry season vegetable production do so with no knowledge of irrigation water requirements. This method tends to either over-irrigation or under-irrigation below the vegetable water requirements. Too much water can leach costly fertilizers to depths below the root zone, where both the water and fertilizer are permanently lost. Too little water caus...
ABSTRACT A direct-heated solar crop dryer suitable for rural farmers and households was developed and evaluated. The simple structured dryer was fabricated using square and round pipes, aluminium sheet, Perspex, wire gauze, bolts and nuts. Its performance was evaluated using cassava chips and three cylindrical aluminium chimneys of heights 1200mm, 800mm and 400mm; all of equal diameter. Mature cassava roots were peeled, washed, chopped into flat circular chips of 10mm thickness and spread on...
ABSTRACT This study is on the determination of the Compressive Strength of Palm Kernel Shell Concrete. The effect of percentage replacements (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) of crushed granite with palm kernel shell on density and compressive strength of concrete is presented. Concrete cube specimens of mix 1:2:4 were prepared with water-cement ratio of 0.6. The cubes (150mm×150mm×150mm) were cured using water-submerged curing until testing ages of 7, 14, 21 and 28 days when their densities and co...
ABSTRACT An indirect, natural convection solar-assisted charcoal smoking system was designed and fabricated in one of the host communities of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri where most of the fish farmers and processors adopt the conventional method of drying fishes, that is, using firewood. This method which works well during the dry period of the year is very inconvenient during the rainy season. Given the excessive heat generated by firewood and its resultant effect on the pr...