Fekadu Gebretensay Mengistu

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Project Manager at Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research

Macaw palm (Acrocomia aculeata) is native to tropical forests in South America and highly abundant in Brazil. It is cited as a highly productive oleaginous palm tree presenting high potential for biodiesel production. The aim of this work was to characterize and study the genetic diversity of A. aculeata ex situ collections from different geographi...

The goal of potato breeding is to develop widely adaptable, highly productive cultivars that farmers would prefer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance and stability of potato varieties linking the preferences of smallholder farmers in rain-fed and irrigated environments. Using a randomized complete block design in three repl...

Shallot is a vegetable and condiment crop widely used in Ethiopia and globally. However, absence of improved and adaptable varieties has been the major cause of low productivity. Narrow genetic base of local shallot germplasm owing to vegetative reproduction of the crop, among others, has been the root cause of low productivity. Nevertheless, some...

Experiments under field conditions were conducted in the Meher season from mid-July to December 2019 and 2020 at Kulumsa and Arsi Robe, Southeast Ethiopia. The study intended to evaluate white cumin accessions for agronomic and quality traits. Fifteen genotypes were laid out in a randomized complete block design in three replications. The analysis...

Potato has lived with several diseases and insect pests such as late blight and potato tuber moth for several decades. However, newly emerging insect pest known by the name 'mealybug' is recorded as a new threat for potato production in the highlands of Arsi, Southeast Ethiopia. This pest has never been observed in the area in the history of potato...

In Ethiopia, the low productivity of garlic is largely due to a shortage of high yielding and stable varieties. To address this issue, thirteen garlic genotypes were evaluated for yield stability and performance across six different environments in central and southeast Ethiopia. The genotypes were analysed using Additive Main effects and Multiplic...

A phenotypic diversity study was carried out under field conditions in the meher season ((July–November 2019 and 2020) at Kulumsa, Southeast Ethiopia to assess variables that directly affect seed yield, contribute to the total phenotypic variance, and classify coriander accessions. Twenty-five Ethiopian coriander accessions were laid out in a simpl...

The objective of this study was to assess the extent of variability of yield and yield-related traits, heritability, and genetic advances among Ethiopian coriander accessions. The experiment was conducted at Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center, Southeast Ethiopia, during 2019- 2020 cropping seasons. Twenty-five Ethiopian coriander accessions were...

A field experiment was conducted at the Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center in Southeast Ethiopia during the meher season (July to November 2019 and 2020) to evaluate the extent of variability, heritability, and genetic advance of eight yield and yield-related variables among 25 Ethiopian coriander accessions. A 5×5 simple lattice with two replica...

Seed quality is crucial for the success of crop production, as it affects germination capacity, emergence potential, and seedling growth. This study investigated the impact of extended stor-age on the germination capacity, oleoresin and essential oil contents of black cumin seeds from three black cumin varieties in Ethiopia: "Aden", "Dershaye", and...

Multi-environment trials were carried out at 3 locations in different black cumin growing zones of Ethiopia during June-December, 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 to select high yielding and adaptable genotypes for commercial production in Ethiopia. Ten advanced black cumin genotypes were evaluated with one standard check variety. The genotypes were arrange...

to select high yielding and adaptable genotypes for commercial production in Ethiopia. Ten advanced black cumin genotypes were evaluated with one standard check variety. The genotypes were arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The ANOVA revealed that the differences in seed yield among genotypes (G), environments (E)...

The experiment was carried out under rain fed conditions for three consecutive years (2017–2019) from mid-June to mid-October at Bekoji and Kofele sub sites of Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia by using improved varieties to identify superior genotypes. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replic...

An apple tree pruning experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of pruning time on yield and quality of apple fruits at Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center, Southeast Ethiopia, during the cropping seasons of 2019 and 2020, in two sets each year. Eight treatment combinations of two varieties (Ana and Princesa) and four times of pruning...

Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) is one of the major vegetable crops grown in Ethiopia. In the 2018 rainy season, 31,400 tonnes of head cabbage was produced. Despite its importance, the productivity of cabbage in Ethiopia remains very low (6 t/ha) as compared to world (28.8 t/ha) and East Africa (16 t/ha). Low plant population was one of t...

Potato production is constrained by shortage of seed tubers for different reasons among which extended potato tuber dormancy plays a significant role. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of plant growth regulators (PGRs) on dormancy and sprouting of seed tubers on potato varieties. Three PGRs viz. Gibberrelic Acid (GA3), Benzyl...

Seventy five germplasm collections of garlic (Allium sativum L.), three standard checks and three promising genotypes were evaluated for six quantitative characters using simple lattice square design at Chefe Donsa and Debre Zeit, Central part of Ethiopia. The main objective of the study was to asses and select better genotypes with high yield, qua...

In this study selected potato clones were evaluated for acceptable processing tuber attributes with yield. The most important processed potato products in the country are French fries (chips), followed by crisps. The demand for these products has increased over the years and therefore require more effort to develop varieties with appropriate qualit...

Onion is one of the most important vegetable crops in the world including Ethiopia. The field experiment was conducted in Arsi zone at Kulumsa Agriculture Research Center and Ziway Dugda districts under irrigation condition. A total of five improved onion varieties were evaluated in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications with the...

Shallot (Allium cepa var. ascalonicum Backer) is an important vegetable crop cultivated by smallholder farmers for consumption and income generation in Ethiopia. However, scarcity of high yielding varieties as well as lack of superior planting material seriously constrains productivity of the crop. Research project was initiated aiming at studying...

Use of optimum plant spacing (planting density) is one of the important agronomic practices to maximize the productivity of lettuce. A field experiment was conducted to assess the responses of two lettuce varieties to different plant spacing at Debrezeit and Holeta Agricultural Research Centers representing two different agro-ecologies in Ethiopia....

Potato is one of the most important crops in the farming system of Bekoji and Kofele in the cool highlands of Arsi where potato is usually grown biennially during the main and 'bulg' seasons. 'Belete' has been the dominant potato variety in these areas for the last ten years now and farmers prefer to grow this variety for its high productivity and...

The plant hormone ethylene (C2H4) causes physiological changes such as ripening and senescence in fruits, vegetable and ornamentals, affecting/reducing their postharvest quality (Serek & Reid, 2000). 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) is a gas inhibiting the effects of ethylene. The application temperature of 1-MCP may influence effect of ethylene on the...

Development of SSR marker system for new species is a very expensive task and time consuming. Cross-species transferability of SSR markers is considered as a cost-effective approach for developing microsatellite markers for new species. The aim of this work was to examine the transferability of some SSR markers of two Arecaceae species (Astrocaryum...

Potato tuberization is influenced by environmental factors like light intensity, photoperiod and temperature. Changes in these factors influence the levels of endogenous plant growth regulators. The present study was done at Kulumsa Agricultural Research Centre (KARC), Southeastern Ethiopia during the main cropping season of 2018 to determine the e...

The effect of water stress measuring 80-100 kPa soil water tension was studied on a Danish processing potato variety known as 'Royal' to investigate the response of potato plant to transient and fluctuated water stress at early and late growth stages. The stress was imposed for 10 and 15 days at full emergence and tuber-bulking stages, and fluctuat...

Apple fruits are usually stored after harvest. During cold storage losses of economic importance are produced by several post-harvest fungal pathogens. Pathogens modify the pH of their host tissue to ease for infection and disease development. The present study was intended to show the importance of pH modification for decay development on fruits o...

Development of recommendation on appropriate plant spacing is one of the important agronomic practices to increase the productivity of carrot. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted to assess the response of carrot variety AU-18 to different inter-row spacing in 2018 and 2019 using irrigation. Three inter-rows spacing of 50, 75 and 100cm were...

Microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are useful molecular markers allowing for efficient conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources of plant species. Development of SSR marker system for new species is a very expensive task and time consuming. Crossspecies amplification of microsatellite loci is considered as a cost-effectiv...

Black cumin (Nigella sativa L.) is a spice that grows as a rain fed crop within 1500 to 2400 meters of altitude on heavy black soils. Black cumin has a similar ecological requirement as teff and chick pea. It is a major crop in Dembia, South Gonder, Shirka in Arsi Zone and Goro in Bale Zone. In Dembia, black cumin is cultivated using residual moist...

Black cumin is the major and the most important spice in Southeast highlands of Ethiopia. However, the yield of the crop is very low mainly due to lack of optimum plant density. A field experiment was done with the objective to assess the influence of different seed rates and inter-row spacing on yield and yield attributes of black cumin at Kulumsa...

Field experiment involving five improved onion (Allium cepa L.) varieties and carried out at Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center during the 2018 to 2019 cropping seasons under irrigated condition to identify the best performing variety for seed production to the target areas of Arsi Zone. The onion varieties included in the field experiment were (...

Field experiment involving five improved onion (Allium cepa L.) varieties and carried out at Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center during the 2018 to 2019 cropping seasons under irrigated condition to identify the best performing variety for seed production to the target areas of Arsi Zone. The onion varieties included in the field experiment were (...

Garlic is one of the most important crops used as condiments in Ethiopian. However, its productivity of garlic is less than half the world average. Lack of productive varieties and improved agronomic practices, as well as diseases and insect pests are the major causes of low productivity. The objective of the present study was to investigate an ada...

Potato plays important roles in Ethiopia's economy through ensuring food security as well as source of income for potato farming community. In addition to breaking tubers' dormancy and enhancing sprouting, plant growth regulators (PGRs) are known to affect tubers' quality components of potatoes which are usually governed by genotypes and some other...

The experiment was conducted at Kulumsa, South East Ethiopia, using four levels of nitrogen (N) (0, 50,100 and 150 kg N ha À1) and four levels of phosphorus (P) (0, 35, 70 and 105 kg P 2 O 5 ha À1) fertilizers arranged in 4 Â 4 factorial arrangements in randomized complete block design with three replications. The available P was increased after ha...

Phytophthora infestans is the major bottleneck in potato production in Ethiopia. Selection of appropriate planting time is highly location specific and the most important subject in rain-fed potato production. However, research recommendation on optimum planting time and fungicide application frequency for high lands area of Arsi (Kulumsa) is lack...

Potato has lived with several diseases and insect pests such as late blight and potato tuber moth for several decades. However, newly emerging insect pest known by the name 'mealybugs' is recorded as a new threat for potato production in the highlands of Arsi, Southeast Ethiopia. This pest has never been observed in the area in the history of potat...

Onion is an important vegetable crop commercially grown both by large and small scale farmers in Ethiopia. Its production is highly dependent on availability of high and good quality seed, which is constrained by a number of problems including declining soil fertility and inappropriate fertilizer application. A study was conducted to investigate th...

Onion is an important vegetable crop commercially grown both by large and small scale farmers in Ethiopia. Its production is highly dependent on availability of high and good quality seed, which is constrained by a number of problems including declining soil fertility and inappropriate fertilizer application. A study was conducted to investigate th...

Phytophthora infestans is the major bottleneck in potato production in Ethiopia. Selection of appropriate planting time is highly location specific and the most important subject in rain-fed potato production. However, research recommendation on optimum planting time and fungicide application frequency for high lands area of Arsi (Kulumsa) is lacki...

An experiment was carried out to identify potato varieties that are suitable for extended harvesting with better tuber yield, quality and reduced losses. Four improved (Belete, Gudene, Dagem and Gera) and one local variety were evaluated under five extended harvesting periods (harvest at maturity as control, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after 1 st harve...

Microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are useful molecular markers allowing for efficient conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources of plant species. Development of SSR marker system for new species is a very expensive task and time consuming. Cross-species amplification of microsatellite loci is considered as a cost-effecti...