Yosef Teklegiorgis’s scientific contributions

This secondary data analysis was conducted to assess post-harvest losses and handling practices. The postharvest section of the Living Standard Measurement Survey (LSMS) data set of the Ethiopian Rural Socioeconomic Survey (ERSS) was used as a data source. The analysis result showed losses of 153.29 kg of cereal crops (7.7% households), 120.16 kg of pulses (5.5% households), 320 kg of oilseeds (4.1% households), 102.19 kg of fruit crops (11% households), 181.86 kg of vegetable (8.2% households), 105.56 kg of root crops (5% households), and 556.13 kg of cash crops (8.2% households). Higher number of households (30%) lost 30% of fruits, 10% of vegetables (21.62% household), 50 and 60% of root and cash crops (26.5% households), respectively. The major cause for cereals and oilseeds loss was rodents/pests, others for pulses and diseases for the perishable crops. Additionally, 84% of the households stored cereal, 63.9% pulses, 80.9% oilseeds, 7.6% fruits, 16.6% vegetables, 25.7% roots and 29% cash crops. The main storage method of durable crops was bags in house and sacks for perishable crops. Furthermore, 91% of the households protected cereal crops, 59.97% pulses, 74.8% oilseeds, 78.4% fruits, 81.7% vegetables, 71% roots and 78.5% cash crops. The major technique used for protection of cereal, pulse, vegetable and cash crops was elevation, while other techniques were used for fruits and root crops. About 50.4% of households did not protect oilseeds. Postharvest losses varied among crop types and handling practices. Reduction of losses could contribute to food and nutritional security; hence attention should be given towards improving postharvest handling practices.

Diet composition, ontogenetic dietary shifts and morphometric relationships of the Nile barb Barbus bynni (Forsskål, 1775) (Pisces: Cyprinidae) in Lake Abaya, Ethiopia Food and feeding habits of Barbus bynni (Forsskål, 1775) were studied in Lake Abaya, Ethiopia, from January to February, 2010 (dry season) and May to June, 2010 (wet season). From a total of 292 fish samples, 251 (86.0%) contained food in their guts. Macrophytes, insects and detritus were the dominant food categories both during the dry and wet seasons. Macrophytes and detritus occurred in 78.1 and 73.3% of the guts, and constituted 30.4 and 29.3% of the total food volume, respectively while insects occurred in 72.5% of the guts and accounted for 29.2% of the total volume. Zooplankton occurred in 37.5% of the guts but they constituted only 4.6% of the total volume of food categories. No seasonality in diet was observed, however, there was an ontogenetic change in diet. In juveniles, the contribution of food of animal origin was relatively high, whereas in adults the contribution of plant materials was dominating. The relationships between total length (TL) and total weight (TW) of males, females and both sexes combined were curvilinear and statistically significant (P < 0.001). The relationships between TL and fork length (FL), TL and standard length (SL) and FL and SL were all linear and statistically significant (P < 0.001). The growth pattern of B. bynni in Lake Abaya was allometric because the slope of the relationship (b) was 3.25, which is a value considerably higher than 3.

The food and feeding habits of the African big barb Labeobarbus intermedius (Rüppell, 1836) was studied based on 320 gut samples collected in April-May 2011 (dry months) and July-August 2011 (wet months) in Lake Koka, Ethiopia. Frequency of occurrence and volumetric methods of analysis were used in this study. Macrophytes, detritus and insects were the most important food items occurring in 79.1%, 80.0% and 62.5% of the guts, and accounting for 46.3%, 27.5% and 18.2% of the total volume of food, respectively. The contributions of phytoplankton, zooplankton, fish scales and ostracods were relatively low. Macrophytes and detritus were important food items during the wet months occurring in 96.2% and 60.9% of the guts, respectively and comprising 66.1% and 24.0% of the total volume of food items, respectively. The contribution of insects was low during the wet months. Detritus, macrophytes and insects were found to be the dominant food items in all size classes, whereas the contributions of ostracods, fish scales, zooplankton and phytoplankton were low. Based on the results it can be concluded that L. intermedius was omnivorous in its feeding habits in Lake Koka.

A survey based experiment was conducted from November 2010 to April 2011 in 196 households to assess egg handling and qualities of scavenging chickens reared in highland, midland and lowland agro-ecological zones of Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. For egg quality determination, among 196 households, 30 of them who keep only local chickens were identified from each agro-ecology from which 588 eggs (196 eggs from each agro-ecology) were collected. The flock size in highland, midland and lowland agro-ecologies was 8.5, 7.4 and 8.4 chickens, respectively. The results indicated that about 95% and 70% of the respondents fumigate day old chicks with smoke and clip tail feathers, respectively. The average age at first egg lay was 6.94, 6.43 and 6.57 months for highland, midland and lowland agro-ecologies, respectively. The survivability of chickens in highland, midland and lowland agro-ecological zones was 55.0%, 61.4% and 55.1%, respectively. On the average 79.1% hatchability, 58.3% chick survivability was found in the study area. The observed values of egg weight, egg length, egg width, yolk height, albumen height and Haugh unit were significantly (p< 0.05) different between the investigated agro-ecologies. Accordingly, all these traits were (p< 0.05) higher in midland than those of highland and lowland agro-ecological zones. Agro-ecology did not affect shape index, shell thickness, yolk width and yolk index values. The respective average egg weight, shell thickness and shape index values were 39.6 g, 0.296 mm and 73.2%. The average values of yolk height, yolk width and Haugh unit were 16.1 mm, 36.8 mm and 73.2, respectively. In conclusion, the midland agro-ecological system appears to favor the survivability and expression of external and internal egg quality traits of scavenging rural chickens.

Survey based study to evaluate the traditional Chicken Production System and the Performance of Local Chicken Populations in Goncha Siso Enesie District of Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

The village chicken production system and performance of local chickens were investigated in Goncha Siso Enesie district of East Gojjam zone with the major objective of assessing chicken production system in 196 households. Data were collected through group discussion with key informants, interview by using pretested structured questionnaires and direct observation. The results indicated that livestock holding per household consists of cattle 4.4, sheep 2.3, goat 1.6, donkey 0.9, mule 0.04, horse 0.6 and chicken 7.9. All chicken owners provide supplementary feed to the chickens, which they get from home-grown (82.7%), market (2.6%) and both home grown and market (10.2%). Only few (16.3%) of the chicken owners use feeder to supplement the chickens, (83.7%) spread the feed simply over the bare ground. The majority (56.6%) provide supplementation during rainy season while 4.6% and 38.8% supplement during dry and all the time, respectively. All of the chicken owners provide water to chickens ad libitum using various types of drinkers made of wooden, stone, clay and plastic materials. Only 11.7% of the households construct separate housing while the majority share their main house. Predation (96.9%) was identified as the primary challenge to chicken rearing compared to disease (3.15%). The productivity of the village chickens was found to be very low where the average age at first lay was 6.6 months with an average clutch number of 3.2. About 14 eggs were produced per clutch with a yearly egg production of 43.2 per hen.