Malting barley is barley that will produce high quality malt. It is a specialty crop for which a premium price is paid by domestic maltters and exporters. Quality requirements for malting barley are reasonably strict and are directly related to processing efficiency and product quality in the malting and brewing industries. Many of the characteristics required are under the control of the producer. Others are determined by weather conditions during the growing and harvesting season. So this trial was conducted on eleven improved malt barley varieties at Fitche Agricultural Research Center for two consecutive years with the objective to identify adaptable, stable, high yielding and its malting potential. The experiment was layout in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Nine agronomic traits data and four major malt quality parameters were evaluated. Analysis of variance detected significant difference among varieties for most observed traits both separated and combined analysis. Observation attained significant differences over years and locations for most traits. The combine ANOVA and the AMMI analysis for grain yield across environments revealed significantly affected by environments that hold 40.42% of the total variation. Genotype and genotype by environmental interaction were significant and accounted 38.11 % and 19.10 % respectively. Principal component 1 and 2 accounted 10. 9 % and 4.19 % of the GEI respectively with a total of 15.09 % variation, the interaction effect of variety by year and variety by location imposed significant effect on most traits. Among evaluated varieties; Singiten and EH1847 had significantly higher mean value of grain yield. Malt quality parameters were conducted in the laboratory of Food Technology and Process Engineering at Holleta Agricultural research center. The mean values of malt quality parameter had malt hot water extract, malt Friability, malt protein content and malt beta-glucan, 78.32%, 58.42%, 10.27% and 492.13mg/L respectively. The results obtained showed that most malt quality had differences among the varieties and some of the results found were within the acceptable limit of EBC (European Brewery Convention) standard even if a single variety may not fulfill all the quality requirements. Based on these findings, the Traveler and the HB1963 varieties fulfill some of the quality parameters that are specified in the EBC range.

Fig (Ficus sp.) belongs to tropical and subtropical climates which have great potential for the commercial cultivation. Cutting is the most common and effective method of propagation for figs which is influenced by different exogenous and endogenous factors. In this light, a study was conducted to observe the responses of stem cutting of fig (Ficus sp.) of one exotic and two indigenous varieties (Teen- Ficus carica; wild fig- Ficus hispida and joggo fig- Ficus racemosa) in respect of duration of shade and anatomical status of stem. The study was laid in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with two factors (duration of shade and cultivars) and three replications of the treatments. The four different treatments of shade duration were as T1= open or control, T2=3 days of shading, T3= 6 days of shading and T4= 9 days of shading. Data were collected on root and sprout growth of the cuttings at weekly interval from two weeks of planting the cuttings in sand filled plastic cups. When the duration of shading increased, the teen (Ficus carica) showed the longest sprout (1.59 mm) and root (2 mm) as well as maximum number of root (5.67) and sprout (2.33). Better rooting performance was found in teen and it was very low in wild fig. A relationship between rooting performance and anatomical structure was clearly observed in this study. Long period of shading has positive effect on number and length of sprout in teen and wild fig. On the other hand, short period of shading minimized the days required for sprouting in teen Presence of thin cuticle, thin trichome and the absence of druses crystal in ground tissue and medulla also enhanced the performance of stem cutting of teen.

Calf morbidity and mortality resulted from diarrhea hinder the replacement of older cows by calves and lower economic benefit from the secretor in Ethiopia. Bacterial and Protozoal infectious disease were the main causes of calves’ diarrhea in dairy farms. The aim of the current study was conducted to isolate calf’s diarrhea causing Bacterial and Protozoal infection and asses the risk factors associated with it in and around the Assela town. Accordingly, 26 small, medium, and large-scale dairy farms were purposively selected for collection of faecal and serum samples and risk factors related information diarrhoeic calves. From 108 calves, 2 × 10 g of feces and 10 mL of jugular blood from each calf were collected. Bacterial culturing and serodiagnosis and protozoal microscopic examination were conducted. From 26 small, medium, and large dairy farms in the Assela region were investigated for the percentage of significant enteropathogens in diarrhoeal calves over six months. They contained proportions of E. coli, Eimeria, Cryptosporidium, Giardia and Salmonella Typhimurium of 55 (50.9%), 42 (38.9%), 23, 8 (7.4%) and 3‘(2.8%), respectively. All risk factors assessed had equal impact on the occurrence of Enteropathogen hence there was no significant difference among them (P-value > 0.05). the high calf Diarrhea causing Enteropathogen rates established in this study together with the alarming predictors of calf morbidity entail attention by the concerning bodies on proper management and improved health care to reduce the incidence of Calves diarrhea.