Objective: Finger millet blast disease caused by Pyricularia grisea (Magnaporthe grisea) causes significant yield loss in Ethiopia. This study was conducted to isolate, identify and characterize the pathogen (using morphological, physiological and biochemical methods). Methodology and results: A total of 42 P. grisea isolates from five different finger millet producing regions of Ethiopia were collected from diseased finger millet plants and wild relatives. Based on their geographical distribution, virulence and comparative growth on culture media, only six isolates were selected for further indepth study. The morphological and physiological variability studies of the six isolates were carried out on Host Seed Extract + 2% Sucrose Agar, Oat Meal Agar, Potato Dextrose Agar and Richard's Agar culture Media at varying temperature, pH, carbon and nitrogen sources. Each of the isolated P. grisea showed consistently better growth on Oat Meal Agar than other media. The isolates showed considerable variation in mycelial growth, pigmentation and conidia production in culture. Oat meal agar and Richard Agar media showed maximum mycelial growth with 87.3mm and 88.2mm by isolates of Pg 41 and Pg 26, respectively. Based on temperature preference and pH requirement, the isolates of P. grisea showed maximum mycelial growth of 61.4mm and 423.3mg at 30°C and pH 6.5. The isolates of P. grisea showed ability to metabolize a wide range of carbon and nitrogen sources among which dextrose and NaNO3 were the most suitable carbon and nitrogen sources for mycelial growth of all isolates. The variations in the utilization of the various carbon and nitrogen compounds seem to reflect inherent biochemical and physiological differences among P. grisea isolates. Conclusion and applications: Basic data on finger millet blast pathogen diversity and characterization using morphological, physiological and biochemical methods has been conducted. The results of this study help to understand the physiological and biochemical requirements for the growth and development of the pathogen, which could serve as an input in disease management to minimize the effect of blast disease on finger millet and its wild relatives.

Background: Mushrooms are a nutritious food source, being rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. They are also contains substances that enhance the immune system, fight infectious disease. Mushrooms can be cultivated on a variety of substrates, including agricultural and agro-industrial waste materials. The current study was amid to evaluate the phytochemical characteristics of Pleurotus species cultivated on different agricultural wastes.Methods: Mushrooms Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus florida were cultivated on different agricultural wastes for the screening of phytochemical characteristics. Qualitative analyses of the phytochemicals were evaluated in methanolic, ethanolic and aqueous extracts of both Pleurotus spp. Total phenolic and total flavonoid contents of the extracts were determined by using Folin-Ciocalteu method and Spectrophotometric method with aluminum chloride.Result: Qualitative analyses revealed the phytochemicals alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids and tannins were present in methanolic, ethanolic and aqueous extracts of both Pleurotus spp. while anthraquinones and Phlobatannins were absent in aqueous extracts. The highest concentration of phenols and flavonoids were recorded in methanolic extracts of P. ostreatus and P. florida (48.17 mg GAE/g of extract and 56.57 mg of RUE/g of extract and 46.73 mg GAE/g of extract and 55.58 mg of RUE/g of extract respectively). The results supported the methanolic extracts of P. ostreatus and P. florida might indeed be potential sources of phytochemicals.

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants is inadequate in Ethiopia in general, and in Chiro District in particular. Therefore, this study documents medicinal plant utilization, management and the threats encountered on them. The study was conducted from April 2017 to June 2018. Forty eight informants were purposively selected. Socioeconomic and botanical data were gathered using group discussions, semi-structured interviews, and field observations and analysed using informant consensus factor, preference ranking and paired comparison methods. The result revealed that 60 plant species from 42 families and 58 genera were used as trational medicine to treat human and animal diseases. The Euphorbiaceae were represented by 7 species, followed by Asteraceae (5 species), Myrtaceae and Solanaceae (3 species each), Lamiaceae, Brassicaceae and Polygonaceae (two species each). Of the 60 species, 22 (36.67%) were herbs, followed by shrubs (n=19, 31.67%), trees (n=16, 26.66%) and climbers (n=3, 5.0%). In the study area the most significant threat to medicinal plants is agricultural expansion. Even though the study revealed that the area is enriched with medicinal plant diversity, awareness should be done to enhance the conservation of medicinal plants.

The livelihood of over 93% of the people Southern Nation Nationality and peoples Region of Ethiopia dependent on agriculture; however, agricultural system in the region is at subsistence level. Much effort has been put to generate or adapt agricultural technologies that would help to increase production and productivity but only few technologies adopt by the end users. Because, technologies might have not be driven from the real need of the end users. A top bottom approach that dominantly centered researchers/ professional attitudes has been fallowed. For the successful research and development achievement, an agro-ecology based assessment is crucial to understand the specific farming system production practices and problems and technology needs of farmers and /or pastoralists. In this line, an assessment study was conducted in H1 agro-ecology of Shishir PA in Debub Ari district of South omo zone. Mixed farming is the livelihood of the farmers in the PA. The rain fall pattern is bimodal .Major crops grown in the area are Sorghum Maize, Common bean, field pea, and sunflower, Enset (Ensetventricosum), Yam, Cassava, Irish Potato, Sweet Potato, Taro, Garlic, Shallot, Cabbage, Banana, Coffe, Sugarcane, Corianders, Ginger and Peppers.

No abstract