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Papers by yenealem gemi

Water conservation science and engineering, Mar 16, 2022

Conservation tillage is a promising tillage practice for enhancing soil moisture conservation. Th... more Conservation tillage is a promising tillage practice for enhancing soil moisture conservation. The objective of the study is to evaluate conservation tillage methods on soil moisture and maize grain yield in Silte and Gurage zone of Ethiopia. No tillage, one-time tillage, two times tillage, and conventional tillage methods were evaluated. The treatments were laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications for three consecutive years (2018-2020). Besides soil moisture data, selected physical and chemical soil properties were collected. Economic analysis was also computed for each tillage method to select cost effective conservation tillage methods. The result reveals, conservation tillage methods had better soil infiltration and soil moisture content relative to conventional tillage. There was no significant difference between treatments in soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and phosphorus in the top 10 cm in the Mareko site. However, except for phosphorus, significant differences (p < 0.05) between treatments in soil organic carbon and nitrogen were detected in the 10-20 cm depth. The maize yield and yield components are significantly affected by treatments at the Mareko site and not significant at Mito. The results support that conservation tillage tested in this study could contribute to the improvement of soil properties and maize yield in study sites.

Modeling Earth Systems and Environment, Nov 10, 2020

Soil erosion is the main drivers in the world and Ethiopia in particular. This study has been con... more Soil erosion is the main drivers in the world and Ethiopia in particular. This study has been conducted at Dijo watersheds in the Rift valley Basins of Ethiopia to estimate soil erosion rate and identify erosion hotspot areas for proper planning using Geographic Information System and Universal Soil Loss Equation adapted to Ethiopian condition. 64 years mean annual rainfall data for estimating erosivity factor, digital soil map for estimating soil erodibility factor, Digital Elevation Model for estimating topographic (LS) factor, Land use land cover for cover factor detection from Ethiopian ministry of water resources. The result reveals that the soil loss ranges from 0 ton/ha/year in flat slope to 38.09 ton/ha/year from steep slopes. The average soil loss rate is 2.2 tons per hectare per year and has been classified into three erosion severity classes as very low, low and moderate. The result also reveals that most of the watershed erosion severity evaluated under very low and low soil erosion severity classes covering 97.3% of the watershed areas which is due to the effect of mixed plantation of various tree and terraces. However, moderate soil erosion in the upper parts of the watershed could be due to the inherent characteristics of vertisols, lack of vegetation cover and terraces which should be given first priority for conservation interventions. From the gross soil erosion, 43,762 ton/year sediment yields have been estimated at watershed outlet. Policy aim at keeping land productivity will need to focus to reduce low and moderate soil erosion through terracing, inter-cropping, contour farming, strip cropping, conservation tillage, mulching and biological stabilizers based on their slope range, soil type and land use type. The current finding on erosion was evaluated based on the past 10 years land use land cover scenario; therefore, soil erosion might be reduced if the current land use land cover scenario considered. Finally, the integration of USLE and GIS is an effective tool in mapping the spatial distribution of soil erosion from the entire watershed. The moderate and low soil erosion severity areas should be managed through terracing, inter-cropping, contour farming, strip cropping, conservation tillage, mulching and biological stabilizers based on their slope range, soil type and land use type. Free grazing and cultivation of steep slope(Northern parts) contributed for moderate soil erosion in the watershed should be managed by cut-carry system, limiting the number of cattle units to be grazed in the specific plot of land and leaving the marginal steep slope areas with no ground covers for natural regeneration. Finally, the current finding on erosion was evaluated based on the past 10-year land use land cover scenario. Therefore, the soil erosion could be reduced if the current land use land cover scenario is considered. Keywords Conservation priority • Dijo watershed • Sediment yield • Soil erosion • Sub-watersheds • GIS • USLE • SLMP Abbreviations DEM Digital elevation model FAO Food and agricultural organization USLE Universal soil loss equation SCRP Soil conservation research program yr Year LULC Land use land cover ha Hectare WBISPP Woody biomass inventory and strategic planning project Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

OMO International Journal of Sciences

Pod borer is a major insect pest constraining chickpea production at southern Ethiopia. The exper... more Pod borer is a major insect pest constraining chickpea production at southern Ethiopia. The experiment was conducted at Sodo district with the objective to evaluate the efficacy of different insecticides for the control of pod borer of chickpea. The experiment was conducted using one chickpea variety; Habru and five insecticides Diaznon (1.2l/ha), Diamethoate (1L/ha), Apron star (600g with 500l of water ha-1), Endosulfan (250g/ha) and Karate (400ml/ha). The result revealed that all insecticides were effective against pod borer with difference on percent larval population reduction. The pod borer damage reduction by insecticides treatment ranged from 35.4% to 68.6% and 39.5% to 76.7% compared to that in control. Diaznon and karate resulted maximum seed yield 1561.20 kg/ha and 1498.90 kg/ha, in 2017 and 1391.40kg/ha,1421.29 kg/ha in 2019 respectively. The highest larval reduction was obtained from plot treated with insecticide Diaznon followed by insecticide Karate 5% EC 68.6%, 64% du...

Water Conservation Science and Engineering, 2022

Conservation tillage is a promising tillage practice for enhancing soil moisture conservation. Th... more Conservation tillage is a promising tillage practice for enhancing soil moisture conservation. The objective of the study is to evaluate conservation tillage methods on soil moisture and maize grain yield in Silte and Gurage zone of Ethiopia. No tillage, one-time tillage, two times tillage, and conventional tillage methods were evaluated. The treatments were laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications for three consecutive years (2018–2020). Besides soil moisture data, selected physical and chemical soil properties were collected. Economic analysis was also computed for each tillage method to select cost effective conservation tillage methods. The result reveals, conservation tillage methods had better soil infiltration and soil moisture content relative to conventional tillage. There was no significant difference between treatments in soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and phosphorus in the top 10 cm in the Mareko site. However, except for phosphorus, sig...

Journal of Sedimentary Environments, 2022

Land degradation is a serious environmental threat affecting the overall land productivity in Eth... more Land degradation is a serious environmental threat affecting the overall land productivity in Ethiopia. To reverse the problem, many sustainable land management practices including exclosures have been implemented in the country. This study was conducted in the Silt’e zone of Ethiopia (Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region or SNNPR), aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of exclosures in rehabilitating degraded lands. A combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods was used. The results showed that exclosures displayed higher soil moisture content than the adjacent grazing lands. Significant differences (p < 0.05) between exclosures and adjacent grazing lands in soil pH and total nitrogen were detected. Species diversity in Lemlem 2 is medium in all elevation point. The evenness index in all studied sites shows that the species are not completely even. The estimated soil losses varied between 6.64 and 98.49t/ha/yr in exclosures and between 29.13 ...

Stem rust (Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici) is a major disease of wheat that occurs more in the m... more Stem rust (Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici) is a major disease of wheat that occurs more in the main wheat growing regions of Ethiopia. The highland of Ethiopia is considered as a hot spot for the development of stem rust diversity. The objective of this study was to evaluate durum wheat varieties to stem rust using 12 varieties under rain fed conditions. The durum wheat varieties were evaluated for wheat stem rust in Dalocha and Mareko districts for two cropping seasons (2016 and 2018). The varieties were planted in three replications using randomized complete block design (RCBD). Combined analysis of variance revealed existence of significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) in disease parameters and crop performance among varieties. However, differences among the durum wheat varieties were non-significant for some other plant parameters. All durum wheat varieties showed variable response to stem rust and no variety was found completely resistant to stem rust. The varieties Bekelcha, Dire an...

Water Conservation Science and Engineering, 2021

In Ethiopia, natural resources management interventions have been implemented since the 1980s to ... more In Ethiopia, natural resources management interventions have been implemented since the 1980s to restore degraded landscapes. However, little efforts have been made to investigate the impacts of natural resources management interventions on ecosystem services and livelihood. This study was conducted in the Choke Mountain, Northern Ethiopia, to investigate the effects of community-based watershed management interventions on ecosystem services and livelihood of smallholder farmers. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect and analyze data. The results indicated that deforestation, population pressure, topography, overgrazing, and continued cultivation are major causes of land degradation. Consequences of land degradation include a reduction in farm size, a decrease in soil fertility and crop production, drought, food insecurity, and poverty. Also, the results demonstrated that a shortage of clean water and a decline in vegetation composition are among the impacts...

Modeling Earth Systems and Environment

Book Reviews by yenealem gemi

The decline of soil fertility mainly through soil erosion constrained the agricultural productivi... more The decline of soil fertility mainly through soil erosion constrained the agricultural productivity in south central Ethiopia. The present study has been initiated to answer the question which grass strips control the soil and nutrient losses when integrated with wheat. Based on the severity of soil erosion, three treatments namely Desho, Elephant and control were compared for consecutive two years. The result implies Desho grass control soil loss by 6.5% and Elephant grass by 21.3% relative to control. The soil nutrient result also shows similar trend, Elephant and Desho grass save N losses by 66.8% and 11.2% relative to control respectively. Planting Desho and Elephant grasses in a strip could save P losses by 17.2% and 27.4% relative to control respectively, which shows their ability to control soil and nutrient losses when planted in strips with annual crops. However, both are effective in controlling soil losses when planted in strips with annual crops. Due to their biomass production potential, they could also be an option to mitigate the fodder shortage at dry period. Therefore, for sustainable soil and water conservation Desho and Elephant grasses should be widely scaled up with annual crops in Sankura woreda and similar agro-ecologies in the region by considering their slope ranges where soil erosion is expected to be severing.

In Ethiopia, particularly Southern Regional State dry land crop productivity is majorly influence... more In Ethiopia, particularly Southern Regional State dry land crop productivity is majorly influenced by low soil moisture stress. The current study has been conducted to evaluate the effect of intercropping maize with legumes covers on Soil Moisture improvement at Misrak Azerinet Berbere woreda. Seven treatments evaluated were vetch with maize, lablab with maize, vetch only, lablab only, and maize only. The experimental design was in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications in a permanent plot. Disturbed soil samples were collected from the intra-row spacing from both intercropped and non-intercropped plots from the depth of 0-20 cm and composited for soil moisture analysis. The yield and biomass of maize and legume shrubs have been collected. The Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) was computed to evaluate the land productivity of intercropped combinations. The result reveals that in both years, yield, biomass, and soil moisture content were not significant (p > 0.05) at a statistically significant level. After crop harvest, maize with lablab has better soil moisture relative to other combinations (first year). In both years, the soil moisture content in the soil was reduced in the sole crop of maize compared with sole vetch. However, the soil moisture content in the soil was increased in maize intercropped with lablab in both development stage and after harvest compared with maize intercropped with vetch. Both legume shrubs under mono and intercropped conditions conserve soil moisture relative to maize under mono cropped conditions. This implies the benefit of legume shrubs on soil moisture conservation both planted under mono cropped conditions and intercropped conditions. It is concluded that the combination of intercropping maize with legume shrubs could substantially increase soil moisture conservation and improve the overall land productivity. Therefore, for maximum maize production, farmers in the area should plant maize with a combination of vetch and lablab. Additionally, farmers should practice double cropping with the residual soil moisture from legume and its combinations.

Water conservation science and engineering, Mar 16, 2022

Modeling Earth Systems and Environment, Nov 10, 2020

OMO International Journal of Sciences

Water Conservation Science and Engineering, 2022

Conservation tillage is a promising tillage practice for enhancing soil moisture conservation. Th... more Conservation tillage is a promising tillage practice for enhancing soil moisture conservation. The objective of the study is to evaluate conservation tillage methods on soil moisture and maize grain yield in Silte and Gurage zone of Ethiopia. No tillage, one-time tillage, two times tillage, and conventional tillage methods were evaluated. The treatments were laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications for three consecutive years (2018–2020). Besides soil moisture data, selected physical and chemical soil properties were collected. Economic analysis was also computed for each tillage method to select cost effective conservation tillage methods. The result reveals, conservation tillage methods had better soil infiltration and soil moisture content relative to conventional tillage. There was no significant difference between treatments in soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and phosphorus in the top 10 cm in the Mareko site. However, except for phosphorus, sig...

Journal of Sedimentary Environments, 2022

Water Conservation Science and Engineering, 2021

Modeling Earth Systems and Environment