Abstract: Survey was conducted to assess level of ownership and use of honeybee queen excluder in three districts viz. Kofale and Wondo from West Arsi zone; and Adami Tulu from East Shewa zone of Oromia Ethiopia. A total of Ninety beekeepers were purposively selected for interview. Data like ownership of modern hive and its accessories, improved skills to run beekeeping, practice on use of queen excluder and production of honey were collected. It was found that the beekeepers know how on use of queen excluder was found to be 66.67% at Wondo and at 75% Kofale and 66.6% at Adami Tulu. From this it can be concluded that generally in current study beekeepers were found to be better accustomed with use of Queen Excluder. However, the adoption of these device seems still in its infant stage and needs further promotion to make beekeepers in these areas aware of its benefits. And also the efficiency of the queen excluder was poorly or not determined so far and therefore, needs further investigation following different honey flow periods in the study areas and beyond.Abstract: Survey was conducted to assess level of ownership and use of honeybee queen excluder in three districts viz. Kofale and Wondo from West Arsi zone; and Adami Tulu from East Shewa zone of Oromia Ethiopia. A total of Ninety beekeepers were purposively selected for interview. Data like ownership of modern hive and its accessories, improved skills to ru...Show More
Abstract: The study was conducted with the intention to collect and evaluate locally available perennial grasses for their performances. Thus, seeds of 30 perennial grass collections representing 6 species were collected from different areas. Before conducting the actual trial, seeds of collected grass were sown at on-station for seed increase. Among the collected grasses, the species that produced adequate seeds were used for their performance evaluation. Accordingly, 15 grasses from Cenchrus celiaris, 5 grasses from Chloris gayana and 3 grasses from Panicum coloratum collections were tested for agronomic, yield and quality parameters for two consecutive years. Improved varieties from each species were included as a check for making comparisons. The experiment was arranged in randomized block design with three replications. The overall mean value indicated that Chloris gayana grass with collection CGAB02 produced significantly (p<0.05) the highest (214.5kg/ha) seed yield value as compared to the others while dry matter yield performance of Chloris gayana were not significantly differ among the tested grass species. Other parameters including plot cover, days to 50% of flowering, leaf to stem ratio and survival rates of Chloris gayanagrass were significantly (p<0.05) varied. The combined two years mean result showed that native Panicum coloratum with collection PCHB024 produced the highest seed yield (192.1kg/ha). Whereas the dry matter recorded have no significant difference among the tested Panicum coloratum grass collections. Among Panicum coloratum grasses, PCHB024 also performs best in other agronomic and survival rate while improved Panicum coloratum variety (check) recorded the highest (14.9%) in crude protein content as compared to the other collections. The two years combined analysis indicated the highest mean seed yield (393.2kg/ha) were recorded for CCMk019 followed by CCWB010 and CCUM012 species. The two years mean showed that the highest dry matter yield (2.58t/ha) was recorded from CCUM012. The tested Cenchrus celiaris grass collections were also significantly different in all evaluated agronomic and quality parameters. Generally, the performances of local and improved grasses of the same species are comparable in most parameters. However, the survival rates of local grass after the establishment were found to be better than that of improved varieties. Among the tested perennial grasses, CGAB02, PCHB024and CCUM012andCCWB010 from Chloris gayana, Panicum coloratum and Cenchrus celiaris grass species respectively were performed best in most important parameters. These best performed local grasses should be further evaluated at on farm condition on degraded grazing lands.Abstract: The study was conducted with the intention to collect and evaluate locally available perennial grasses for their performances. Thus, seeds of 30 perennial grass collections representing 6 species were collected from different areas. Before conducting the actual trial, seeds of collected grass were sown at on-station for seed increase. Among the col...Show More