Bouffordia dichotoma (Willd.) Ohashi et al. [syn. Desmodium dichotomum (Willd.) DC], family Fabaceae, is recognized by farmers (locally called Chimero) in Eastern Amhara Region, Ethiopia as a valuable livestock feed. This forage is growing as spontaneous intercrop with sorghum or maize crop. It is an herbaceous self-regenerating legume growing in a wild state. Short-listed accessions were undergoing for preliminary variety trial. In order to determine forage yield and quality of Desmodium dichotomum, a field experiment was carried out using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications in year 2020. Plots were harvested to determine Dry Matter (DM) yield and leaf to stem weight ratio. Forage samples from each replicates were harvested and grounded using Wiley Mill, to pass through a 1 mm screen. The ground tissue was then analyzed for moisture, Crude Protein (CP), Crude Fiber (CF), crude fat, total ash and mineral concentrations. The highest mean DM yield was recorded for accession no. 37708 (10.78 ton/ha) followed by accession 37709 (7.7 ton/ha) while the lowest was 2.84 ton/ha (accession 2003). The highest CP concentration occurred in accessions no. 37708 and 37709 (23.9%), followed by accession no. 37702 (23.3%), while the lowest value of CP was recorded for accession no. 37715 (20.5%). A considerable concentration of mineral element was observed among the tested accessions. According to the results accession no. 37708, 37709 and 37705 can be considered as a good source of forage. تفاصيل المقالة

The study was conducted to collect germplasm and identify appropriate seed treatment technique to enhance germination of Bouffordia dichotoma syn. Desmodium dichotomum, which is self-generating wild legume forage growing in eastern Amhara (North Wollo, South Wollo and Oromia Special Zones), Ethiopia. Twenty six Desmodium dichotomum seed populations (1000 seeds from each) were collected in 2018 from fields using Ethiopian biodiversity institute sample population collection format by considering agro ecological similarity and physical barrier to genetic mixing. The samples were collected from sorghum growing farm-lands. Breaking of dormancy in seeds of Desmodium dichotomum collections was investigated through laboratory experiment to elucidate the best method that can be used to enhance germination of the seed. To test the effectiveness of pre sowing treatments on germination of Desmodium dichotomum collected seed lots, the following treatments were imposed under a completely randomized design with 3 replications of 60 seeds each: mechanical scarification by sand paper; boiled water at 100oC for 4 minutes; and untreated seeds as control. Germination percentage was highest (p < 0.05) for scarification (99.4%) followed by boiled water (79.15%) and untreated seeds (36.58%), respectively. Mechanical scarification greatly reduced germination time as most seeds (68.7%) sprouted in the first 5 days and germination was completed at day 9. Similarly, boiled water made sprout the seeds in the first 5 days (65%) and completed germination at day 10. However, non-treated seeds had started to germinate at day 12 (1%). Scarification by sand paper was quite effective in increasing germination of Desmodium dichotomum collected seeds. Further improvements in germination of Desmodium dichotomum could be expected in different boiling water temperature with different minutes and acid treatment methods. تفاصيل المقالة

This study was conducted in 2019‒2020 to morphologically characterize and cluster 26 germplasm entries of Bouffordia dichotoma, the native legume collected in eastern Amhara (Ethiopia) for eventual selection of promising lines as forage crops. The IBPGR descriptors list were used for characterization of the entries and data were analyzed using R software. Cluster analysis was conducted to understand the genetic diversity within the collection and to group similar entries. The experimental design consisted of completely randomized blocks with three replications for one year. The resulting dendrogram showed 3 distinct groups of entries: Group 1 with 12 entries; Group 2 with 6 entries; and Group 3 with 8 entries. Group 1 was significantly different (P<0.05) from Groups 2 and 3 in terms of days to first flower, terminal leaflet length, terminal leaflet petiole length, length of inflorescence and plant height, as well as emergence, establishment, vigor, flowering and maturity. Leaf color of Groups 1 and 2 was light green while that of Group 3 was green. While most entries had semi-erect growth habit, those in Group 3 were prostrate or trailing. Three distinct types of seed coat colors were observed with Group 1 including dark brown, light brown and yellow, while Groups 2 and 3 were yellow only. تفاصيل المقالة