Durum wheat is the second most important Triticum species next to bread wheat. Ethiopia is one of the centers of diversity for durum wheat. The aim of this study was to assess variability, heritability and genetic advance for some yield and yield-related traits. A total of 97 durum wheat accessions along with 3 improved varieties were evaluated in 10 x 10 simple lattice designs during the 2018 main cropping season at Mata Subsite of Haro Sabu Agricultural Research Center. Twenty parameters were collected and analyzed. Statistically significant (p≤0.01) variation was observed among materials tested for important quantitative and qualitative traits. Genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) ranged from 3.77 to 44.81% for days to maturity and grain yield (tons ha -1 ), respectively. Broad sense heritability ranged from 72.33 to 99.95% for plant height and number of kernels per spike, respectively. The highest genetic advance as percent of mean recorded for grain yield (88.80%) and the least for moisture (5.22%). Generally, the magnitude of genetic variability among the studied durum wheat accessions showed great variations for desirable traits and thus confident enough to expect genetic progress if further breeding activities are carried out.

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Black cumin is a seed spice cultivated in Ethiopia for a long period of time. It is also cultivated in the Toke Kutaye district of West Shewa Zone by small-holder farmers. However, the expected benefit of this crop is not being obtained by farmers since they are using in-appropriate agronomic practices including in-appropriate fertilizer applications. A field experiment was conducted at Gudar campus, Toke Kutaye district to determine the influence of different rates of NPSB fertilizer and cattle manure on growth, yield, and yield components of black cumin. The treatments consisted of factorial combinations of four NPSB blended fertilizer levels (0, 50, 100, and 150 kg ha -1 ) and four CM levels (0, 2.5, 5, and 7.5 t ha -1 ). The experiment was laid out as a Randomized Complete Block Design in a factorial arrangement and replicated three times. The results indicated that interaction of NPSB and CM highly significantly (P<0.01) influenced yield parameters except for growth and phenological parameters such as days to 50% flowering, days to 90% maturity, primary branches, and secondary branches. However, Days to 50% emergence was not affected by the combined application of NPSB blended fertilizer and cattle manure. The tallest plants (49.20 cm), the highest number of capsules per plant (25.00), the highest numbers of seeds per capsule (99.40) and, the highest harvest index (47.42%) was obtained from the treatment that received 100 kg NPSB ha -1 and 7.5 t CM ha -1 . The highest seed yield (1113.33 kg ha -1 ) was also obtained from the application of 100 kg NPSB ha -1 and 7.5 t CM ha -1 . Similarly, the highest MRR (%) was obtained from the interaction effect of 100 kg NPSB ha -1 and 7.5 t CM ha -1 with a marginal rate of revenue (20576%) and net benefit of 86579.7 birr. Thus, the application of 100 kg NPSB ha -1 and 7.5 t CM ha -1 can be promoted for increased productivity of black cumin and economically feasible in the study area. Since the experiment was conducted at one place and one cropping season, the further trial will be needed for the final recommendation.

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is a tropical C4 crop that originated in Ethiopia and was domesticated there. It is the fifth most widely grown cereal crop in the world. It is a vital staple crop for more than 500 million people in 30 Sub-Saharan African and Asian nations, although it is mostly farmed as a feed crop in the developed world. In a breeding program, the presence of genetic variety is critical. For sorghum breeding and novel cultivar deployment, the genetic variation present in sorghum germplasm collections is frequently investigated. Effective breeding and genetic conservation may need a well-characterized sorghum genetic resource. The level of trait heritability is linked to the genetic development of breeding populations for yield and its component traits. The amount of genetic variability contained in a population and how it is used determines the success of a crop improvement effort. A breeder's understanding of a crop's genetic diversity usually aids them in selecting desirable parents for breeding programs. As a result, it's critical to examine genetic diversity, heritability, and genetic progress since they provide information that can be used to improve grain yield as well as quality qualities to increase crop production and productivity.

Seed cotton yield and fiber quality traits are controlled by many genes and also greatly affected by biotic and abiotic environmental factors. Hence, selection based on only yield would not be effective. In order to improve the yield potential of the cotton cultivars, an understanding of the relationship among various traits is of more importance. The current research was aimed to determine and record phenotypic and genotypic variation of elite cotton lines for utilization of the information in the breeding program to enhance cotton crop productivity and production in Ethiopia. Thus, 14 genotypes, five rows each, were evaluated in three replications at Homosha district of Benishangul-Gumz. The results depicted significant differences (P ≤0.05) among the varieties for all the studied traits, exhibiting the availability of substantial genetic variability among the cultivars for studied traits. Hence, these promising cultivars can further be exploited in various breeding programs to improve various characters of the cotton genotypes. Furthermore, correlation analysis showed that sympodial branches plant-1, boll weight and bolls plant-1 made significant and positive associations with seed cotton yield plant-1. Thus, selection for these traits will ultimately enhance the chances of increasing seed cotton yield plant-1. High heritability estimates were found for all studied traits with the exception of monopodial branches plant-1, indicating that these traits were inherited together and direct selection may be proved to be useful for these traits.