SALALE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Effect of Different Mulching Materials on the Growth Performance of Onion (Allium Cepa
L.)

A senior research proposal submitted to Department of Horticulture, in partial fulfillment

of the Course Senior Research Proposal project I for requirement of Bachelor of Science
(BSc) Degree in Horticulture Science (HORT 3152).
By:
Group Members ID No/

1. Muluken Habtamu AGR/2127/10

2. Gibresenyt Gedamu AGR/1990/10

3. Yalemsew Menigist AGR/2244/10
4. Aschalew Ayifokiru AGR/1827/10
5. Bikis Jember AGR/1876/10
6. Abriham Ewintu AGR/1778/10
7. Worikinesh Bekele AGR/2232/10

Advisor: Mr. Samuel Enigda (MSc)

Fitche, Ethiopia
January, 2020
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, we would like to thank almighty God who gives us patience to pass the ups and down
during our everyday life. While we done this senior research by our genuine appreciation advisor
Samuel Enigda (MSc) for his constructive comments, guidance encouragement and by his polite
behavior. We would like to thank Salale University College of Agriculture and Natural Resource
Department of Horticulture for the financial support provided to undertake this paper.

i
Table of Contents

ii
 List of Abbreviations
ANOVA Analysis of variance
LSD Least significance difference
RCBD Randomized complete block design
SAS Statistical Analysis Software
CSA Central Statistical Agency
FAOSTAT Food and Agriculture Organization Data of Statistics
MoARD Ministry of agriculture and research development

MT Metric Ton

iii
 List of tables
Table 3:personal cost
Table 4: Equipment and supplies cost
Table 5: Stationary costs
Table 6: Budget summary

iv
 CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Back Ground Information

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is member of the family Alliaceae and the most widely grown
herbaceous biennial vegetable crop with cross pollinated and monocotyledonous behavior having
diploid chromosome number (2n = 16) (Hanelt, 1990). Onion is different from the other edible
species of Allium for its single bulb and is usually propagated by true botanical seed. It is
believed to have originated in Afghanistan, the area of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, western Tien
Shan and India while western Asia and the areas around the Mediterranean Sea are secondary
centers of diversity (Saud et al., 2013).

It has been cultivated for more than 5000 years and does not exist as a wild species (Schwarth
and Mohan, 1999). Onions are used primarily as flavoring agents and their distinctive pungency
and form essential ingredients for flavoring varieties of dishes, sauces, soup, sandwiches, snacks
as onion rings etc. And which increase the taste of food (Rahim, 1992); freshly cut onions often
cause a stinging sensation in the eyes of people nearby, due to the presence of a volatile oil (allyl
propyl disulphide). The mature bulb contains some starch, appreciable quantities of sugars, some
protein, and vitamins A, B, and C (Elhag and Osman, 2013;Opara, 2003). It is also one of the
richest sources of flavonoid in the human diet and flavonoid consumption has been associated
with a reduced risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. In addition it is known for anti-
bacterial, antiviral, anti-allergenic and anti-inflammatory potential and used as preservative and
medicinal plant (MoARD, 2009; Saud et al., 2013).
The world production of onion is about 3944 million MT per years from 3.17 million ha (CSA,
2014); more than 90% of which is consumed within the countries of production. About 9,745.36
tons of onion seed was produced in the world with maximum seed yield (17.269 t/ha) was
obtained in the world (CSA, 2014). With respect to its importance; onion stands second,
following tomato and with respect to production, it ranks fourth in the world (Abdolhossein and

1
Sayed, 2015). Onion is grown in more than 175 countries in the world. Based on the average
production from 2008-2013, the world’s top producer of onion is China, contributing an average
of 31% to the total production followed by India (10%) (FAOSTAT, 2011; CSA, 2014).

In Ethiopia it ranks first among Allium species both in area coverage and total production (CSA,
2014). Its area coverage was 24,357.7 ha and total annual production was 219,735.3 tons, but in
the year of 2014/2015 the production has increased to 230,745.2 tons and the average
productivity of onion was increased from 9 to 10.1 t/ha (CSA, 2014, 2015) and its seed yield per
hectare was 1.3 tons (Lemma and Shimels, 2003). As compared to the world average, Ethiopia's
onion seed yield per hectare is very low; this may be due to effect of genotype, locality, season,
soil type, and method of seed production (Brewster, 1994; Saud et al., 2013).

Improper cultural management practices, lack of enough soil moisture and lack of improved
varieties are attributed to this lower yield. Mulching is an important technology which decreases
the loss of soil water through evaporation and conserve soil moisture thus reduces the irrigation
requirements, increasing root development, promote faster crop development, reducing weed
attack and induce earlier harvest of crop (Vavrina and Roka, 2000; Mahajan et al. 2007; Singh,
2018) but along with organic amendment resulted better yield performance. In soil management
relationships, mulching has been reported to influence organic matter content, activity of
microorganisms, availability of soil nutrients, control of erosion, soil compaction and regulating
soil temperature (Stowell, 2000; Grigg et al. 2006). Mulching improves the soil environment for
increasing crop growth, development and yield. Rhee et al. (1990) showed that organic
amendment and mulching increases the efficiency of applied N fertilizer by reducing leaching
and evaporation loss of nutrients. Different types of mulches including dry grass and polythene
significantly increased the growth and yield of onion (Islam et al. 2002; Singh, 2018).It is
important to investigate the effect of mulching on the growth performance of onion.
1.2. Statement of problem

Onion is by far the most of the bulb crops cultivated commercially in most part of the world.
Knowing the effects of different mulching materials is very important, because most of the time
producers of onion do not consider the effect of mulch due to the different climatic conditions
which exist in that area. Many studies have not been conducted about effect of different

2
mulching on growth performance of onion and till the plants response under different agro
climatic conditions area. Thus this research is working to identify the best available mulching
material for agro-ecologies similar to the study; there is no sufficient research out puts on the
influence of mulching materials on growth performance of onion. The growth performance of
onion is influenced by weed and moisture stress due to evaporation, so the study will be solved
these problems.

1.3. Significance of the study

 The outcome of this study will have the following significances:

 It will be used to guide different institutions as a source of information.
 It will be as source of information for agricultural researchers and students who
will be interested to conduct similar researches in the area.

1.4. Objectives

1.4.1. General Objectives

 To identify the effect of different mulching materials on the growth performance of
onion.

1.4.2. Specific objective

 To select the best mulching materials for the growth performance of onion.
 To evaluate the effect of diffrent mulching materials on growth performance component
of onion.

Hypothesis

Ho: Mulching has no effect on growth performance of onion.

H1: Mulching has effect on growth performance of onion.

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 CHAPTER TWO

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Background of the Crop

Onion is an herbaceous, biennial and monocot crop. It takes two seasons for seed production, and
during the first season bulbs are formed while flower stalks and seeds are developed in the
second season (Brewster, 2008). Onion is grown mainly for its bulb, although the green shoots
are important to prepare salad. Onion requires deep alluvial and friable or sandy loam soil with a
pH of 6.0-6.8 (Brewster, 1994).

The onion bulb consists of the swollen bases (sheaths) of bladed leaves surrounding swollen
bladeless leaves. Each leaf consists of a blade and sheath; the blade may or may not be
distinctive. The sheath develops to encircle the growing point and forms a tube that encloses
younger leaves and the shoot apex. Collectively, the grouping of these sheaths comprises the
pseudo stem. Leaves arise from the short, compressed, disc like stem which continues to increase
in diameter with maturation and resembles an inverted cone (Bosekeng, 2012). The onion skin is
formed from the dry paper like outermost leaf scales that lose their freshness during bulbing.
Major bulb quality features are uniformity of shape, size and skin colour, pungency and dry
matter (Rubatzky and Yamaguchi, 1997; Bosekeng, 2012).
The test and odor characteristics of the alliums are their major attribute. Other features are the
umbel inflorescence, flower with nectars, a three-chambered ovary and a basic chromosome
number of eight for the cultivated species. The major flavor of alliums results from the activity
of the enzymes, alliinase, acting on certain sulfur-containing compounds (S. alkyl cysteine
sulfoxides) when tissues are broken or crushed. Onion roots are shallow, most occur within 15-
20 cm of the surface, and seldom extends horizontally beyond 50 cm. Onion roots are short
lived, being continuously produced. Roots rarely have branch and rarely increase in diameter
(Brewster, 1994). The terminal inflorescences develop from the ring like apical meristem scapes
and generally elongate well above the leaves and ranges in height from 30 to more than 100 cm.
The scape is the stem internodes between the spathe and the last foliage leaf. At first, the scape is
solid but, by differential growth, becomes thin walled and hollow (Bosekeng, 2012.

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The number of scapes that develop depends on the number of sprouted lateral buds. A spherical
umbel is borne in each scape and can range from 2 to 15 cm in diameter. The umbel is an
aggregate of many flowers at various stages of development; usually there are 200-600 small
individual flowers. The flowering periods may last four or more weeks. Flowers are perfect,
having six white petals, six stamens and a three carpel pistil. Flowers have nectars, an attractant
to pollinating insects, usually honey bees. Alliums have perfect flowers but, cannot self-pollinate
because the male anthers shed pollen before the female stigma is receptive. Therefore, they
cross-pollinate via insects (flies and bees) or by manually pollinating (hand-pollinating) the
flowers in a controlled environment. Seed producers must keep in mind that varieties of the same
species will cross-pollinate with other varieties of the same species (Currah and Proctor, 1990).

After pollination, fertilization of ovules starts within 12 h and is complete in 3–4 days.
Pollination itself stimulates the initial development of ovules and ovaries. In fertilized ovules, the
endosperm nuclei start to divide and cell division and expansion by the embryo occurs 5–6 days
later. The embryo reaches its full development when the seed attains maximum dry weight.
Initially the endosperm is liquid, and this is termed as the ‘milk stage’ (Jilani, 2004; Bosekeng,
2012).
But at about seventeen days after pollination, cell walls develop within the endosperm and it
progresses to the pasty ‘dough stage’. At this point, the seed coat starts to turn black. Later on
seed attains its maximum fresh weight at about 30 days after flowering. Up to this point, seed dry
weight growth is near exponential and seed dry weight is then about half its maximum. The
endosperm then becomes solid and the seed reaches its maximum dry weight. After flowering,
life completed and on maximum maturity day, the flower turns to give seed. The seeds may be
up to 300 per gram (Currah and Proctor, 1990).

2.2. Onion Production in Ethiopia

In recent years onion is becoming popular vegetable in Ethiopia. Shallots were the traditional
alliaceous crop of the Ethiopian high land, but research efforts on onion in the country have
resulted in the development of varieties which are currently under wider production in different
parts of the country. The most popular of these is ‘Adama Red’ (Lemma and Shimeles, 2003).
Moreover, a new cultivar ‘Melkam’ has also been selected from the Indian cv. ‘Pusa Red’,
suitable for lowland irrigated production. Onion is grown by both small scale farmers and

5
commercial growers especially under irrigation. Ethiopia has a great potential to produce the
crop throughout a year both for domestic use and export market. Its higher yield potential,
availability of desirable cultivars for various uses, ease of propagation by seed, high domestic
(bulb and seed) and export (bulb, cut flowers) markets in fresh and processed forms is making
onion increasingly important in Ethiopia. The major production is in the rift valley areas, besides
bulb production, there is a great potential for seed production in these areas. Experiment from
Melkassa Research Centre showed the cooler seasons of October to February as suitable period
for high seed yield reaching about (1.2 t/ha). The problem behind onion seed production is the
poor keeping quality of seeds and loses of its viability within a year; therefore, it is important to
produce fresh seed every year (Griffiths et al., 2002; Olani and Fikre, 2010).

Onion seed production can bring a high economic benefit for small scale farmers (Lemma and
Shimeles, 2003). Onion seed prices are very high which provides a good motivation for
prospective commercial producers of seeds. Currently onion seed is being produced by farmers
and investors around Melkassa, Awash, along the road to Zeway and its surroundings. The
company collects and distributes the seeds in local market. There are two onion seed production
methods, the seed-to-seed and bulb-to-seed methods (Olani and Fikre, 2010). The bulb to seed
method has advantage of maintaining seed quality, allows rouging off color, misshapen, splits,
rotten bulbs, sprout bulbs and require short period of time for seed production. Whereas seed to
seed method has the advantage speed up the production practices without affecting the variety’s
quality (Olani and Fikre, 2010).

2.3. Importance of Mulching

Mulching is an important practice which helps to retain soil moisture and helps in control of
temperature fluctuations, improves physical, chemical and biological properties of soil, as it adds
nutrients to the soil and ultimately enhances the growth and yield of crops (Maji and Das, 2008
a, b). Mulching may be natural or artificial, for the past decades people are more concern about
the organically produced foods (Maji, 2013). So, use of natural organic mulching is now getting
popularity. Mulching conserves soil moisture from 2.1-2.8% more than non-mulched one.
Mulching also manage weeds which are serious problem in onion which limits the crop yield and
decreased profits. Mulching using paddy straw saw dust, neem leaves have observed to suppress
weed growth effectively in onion (Umar et al, 2000; Maji, 2013).

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Mulching with plant residues and/or synthetic materials is a well-established technique for
increasing the profitability of many crops (Gimenez et al 2002). Soil temperature is a crucial
edaphic factor that effecting root activity related to water and nutrient uptake that affect crop
growth and productivity. Many factors control soil temperature but only mulching and soil
moisture are subject to some manipulation. Although, onion is grow under diverse climatic
conditions, but it grows well under mild climate without extreme heat or cold or excessive
rainfall. Very low temperature at an early stage results in bolting and sudden rise in temperature
favour early maturity and small sized bulbs. Shrinking groundwater resources and higher energy
consumption for pumping, there is an urgent need to devise management practices for efficient
use of limited water (Singh, 2018). The combined practice of mulching and irrigation scheduling
appears to be very promising in achieving this goal. This can be carried out by mulching which
involves the use of organic or inorganic materials to cover the cropped soil surface. Mulching
has the potential of reducing evaporation, conserve soil moisture, modify soil temperature, and
improve aeration. Crop residues and grasses are typical organic materials commonly used for
mulching, while synthetic materials (e.g. polyethylene sheet of different thickness and colours)
are typical inorganic materials used for mulching (Singh, 2018).

2.4. The Effect of Different Mulching Materials on the Agronomic Parameters of Onion
Significant increases in bulb yield and other agronomic parameters of onions observed in the
trials is a phenomenon frequently associated with mulching (Castella and Quang (2006) and
Haim and Lesley (2002) have reported that vegetables experience enhanced growth and
development as a result of utilizing organic or so called summer mulches, since most of the
advantages of such mulches are realized in hot weather. The mechanism of mulch activity may
be summed up in the following: Mulches protect the soil from compacting rains, foot traffic,
drying winds, and heat. The mulches help to control weed proliferation (by excluding light from
germinating seedlings) thereby reducing competition for light, water, and nutrients.The resulting
fewer cultivations mean less crop-damaging root pruning (Hanada, 1991). By reducing the loss
of soil moisture, mulches lessen the frequency of necessary watering, and the vegetable suffers
less in dry spell periods. Organic mulches also increase the water absorption rate of soils. The
reduced soil temperatures under organic mulches encourage root growth in the upper soil layer
where there is more oxygen and fertilizer. The mulch reduces the splattering of soil on vegetable

7
leaves and fruit during rains or sprinkling. This can reduce losses due to soil-borne diseases
(Steiner et al., 1998; Derpsch, 2001; Westerfield, 2013).

2.4.1. Effect of Mulching Materials on the Bulb Size (Diameter) and Bulb Weight of Onion

Baba (2013) reported that, the biggest bulbs were obtained when the onions were mulched with
grass and bulb size under this treatment was significantly larger than in the other treatments. It is
apparent that the large size of bulbs translated into heavy bulbs (and enhanced yield).The bulb
weight of the mulched treatments had showed significantly greater variation than the control,
with the grass mulch treatment being highest. According to Baba (2013) report, field
observations during his trials indicated that Andropogan grass as mulch was more „stable‟ on the
onion beds and spread more compactly and uniformly than the rice straw mulch and was thus
more effective mulch in this regard. More active vegetative growth of the grass straw treatment
onions in comparison to the rice straw one may have led to enhanced bulb size and weight as
more assimilates were translocated into bulb formation than in the other treatments.
Anisuzzaman et al. (2009) also demonstrated that mulching enhances the development and size
of all the agronomic parameters of onions.

2.4.2. Effect of Mulching Materials on the Days To 50% Toppling

According to Baba (2013), mulching with organic material, such as grass, clearly prolonged days
to maturity in onion production. A number of researchers have demonstrated that mulching with
materials such as grass stray, compared to the other treatments, such as, no mulching, helped to
create a more conducive soil micro-environment for the onion plant to grow and develop more
fully (Hanada, 1991). Lament (1993) however both reported otherwise for plastic mulching. The
latter reported early harvest of onions by polythene mulching while Lament reported that black
plastic mulch can result in 2‒14 day’s earlier harvest of vegetables as against clear plastic
mulching which can result in 21-day earlier harvest.

2.4.3. Effect of Mulching Materials on the Yields of Onion

Mulching with many types of organic materials, including chopped grass and clover material has
been demonstrated to positively contribute to improved plant growth, development and enhanced
bulb yield of onions (Russo et al., 1997; Hanson et al., 2001; Hugh et al., 2003). Further, earlier
researchers have demonstrated that in comparison to unmatched soils, the crop yields of mulched
8
soils (depending on factors such as geographic location, soil type and nature of mulch) can be
enhanced two- or three-folds in vegetables (Knowler and Bradshaw (2007) and Hopps et al.
(2008) and other researchers have showed that mulching irrigated vegetables with organic
materials such as Andropogan grass is a critical strategy for enhancing and sustaining the
productivity of small and medium onion cultivation.

2.5. The Effect of Different Mulching Materials on the percentage germination of Onion
Singh (2018) reported that significant influence of mulches on germination percentage was
recorded. The highest germination (83.90%) was observed from black polythene mulch followed
by the water hyacinth (82.31%) that was statistically similar with each other. White polythene
mulch gave 80.50% germination, which was statistically similar with water hyacinth mulch. The
lowest germination percentage (69.54%) was found from non mulch treatment

9
 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS

3.1. Description of the Study Area

The study will be conducted at Salale University General Tadese Biru Campus, College of
Agriculture and Natural Resource Department of Horticulture in 2019/20. Fiche is located north
of 112km away from Addis Ababa with 9° 48' 0'' N latitude and 38° 42' 0'' E longitude on the
altitude of 2750 meter above sea level. The amount of rain fall that the areas received 1150 mm
annually. Fiche district is characterized by a highland agro-ecological zone which has a cold
condition with annual average temperature of 16.5◦c. The dominant soil type is clay with pH
range from 6.2-6.4.

3.2. Experimental Material

The experimental materials will be used Onion bulb Seed (Adama red variety is suitable for wet
and cool condition and popular variety), mulching materials (leaves of banana, dry grass and
plastic).

3.3. Experimental Procedures

The experimental site will be selected and all unwanted materials such as stones, straw weed,
and plant remain and other substances will be removed. The selected site will be prepared by
plough at least three times using human labor. Then, the layout of the experimental area will be
sketched using 3m x 4m x 5m triangular system.The land will be prepared using hoe and shovel
and the soil will free from foreign matter and loosen and easy to manage. The bed type will be
raised bed. The whole experimental field will be divided into three blocks each containing 12
plots. The sizes of each plot will 1m width and 1.6m length. Spacing between block will 0.5m
and spacing between plots will 0.5m. The soil will be watered to make soil loosen and somewhat
wet before sowing. Soon after the bed will ready, 550 onion seed will be sowing per plot which
will doing a total of 6600seeds using. After sowing, the bed will be covered with the treatments
(mulching). And watering will twice a day, morning and night and appropriate management
carried out every day. Similar management activity will be carried out for all plots except
mulches.

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3.4. Experimental Design, Treatment and layout

3.4.1. Experimental design

The study will be conducted using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three
replications. The treatments consist of four levels of mulches (M0= Control / without mulch),
M1 (Dry grass), M2 plastic and M3 (banana leaves). There will be totally 4 treatments. The
treatments will be randomly assigning to the experimental plots. Total experimental area will be
5.8mx7.9m= 45.82m2.

The experimental area is divided into three homogenous blocks and each replication contains
complete set of treatment. Treatments will be assigned to each plot randomly. Each plot is
comprise of 1.6m x1m=1.6m2 area and the space between rows and between plants is 40cm and
10cm respectively .The space between blocks and between plots will be 0.5m and 0.5m,
respectively. Plots consist of four (4) rows with 10 plants each, which made up a total of forty
(40) plants per plot.

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3.4.2. Treatments

Table 1: Treatment numbers

Number of treatments Treatments
T1 M0
T2 M1
T3 M2
T4 M3

Where:
M0.......................... Control / without mulch

M1........................... Dry grass

M2........................... plastic

M3............................banana leaves

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 3.4.3. Experimental layout

The experiment will be laid out as a complete randomized block design with three replications.
Each experiment will be consisted of 12 plots. Plot dimensions will be 1.6m X 1m and 0.5 m
between all plots.

1.6m

1m 0.5m

0.5m

5.8m

45.82m2

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3.5. Data collection

Data will be collected mainly on vegetative growth parameters. Data on the following traits will
be recorded and analyzed from randomly selected plants. The data will be collected by sampling
techniques from the middle two rows. Five plants were selected randomly form each plot in such
a way so that the border effect could be avoided.

3.5.1. Growth parameters

Plant height (cm):

Plant height was measured in centimeter from then ground level to the tip of the matured leaf in
the plant at maturity with a measuring tape.

Number of leaves per plant:

It refers to the mean number of leaves produced by the sample plants and will be calculate by
dividing the total number of leaves count from the sample plants to the number of sampled plants
to get the mean leaf number per plant.

Leaf length (cm):

The length of leaves was measured in centimeter with a scale measuring tape at maturity from
the 5 randomly select sample plants from each plot and the average leaf length will be take.

3.5.2. Yield parameters

Bulb diameter (cm): Bulb diameter was measured at right angles to the longitudinal axis at the
widest circumference of the bulb from 5 randomly selected plants in each plot.

Bulb circumference (cm): The circumference of bulb at harvest was measured at the middle
portion of bulb taken from 5 randomly selected plants.

Individual bulb weight (g): Five plants were selected from each unit plot. The top was removed
by cutting the pseudo-stem keeping only the 2.5 cm from the bulb. 5 bulbs were weighed by a
simple balance and the average was taken.

14
Yield per plot (kg): Yield per plot was measured by weighing the sampled bulbs from each
individual unit plots and Multiplied by number of plants.

Total yield (t/ha): Total yield of bulb per unit plot was converted into tons per hectare.

15
3.6. Data Analysis

The data for the experiment will be analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for RCBD;
using statistical appropriate software. Mean comparison will be done using least significance
difference (LSD) 5% probability level statistically. All the statistical analysis was carried out
using SAS statistical software. The significance levels will: not significant (P > 0.05), significant
(P < 0.05), and highly significant (P< 0.01).

3.7. Expected out come

From this experiment mulching which enhance good growth performance of onion will be
identified.

3.8. Beneficiaries

From this research we believe that the following bodies who are interested in conducting
research on this crop will be benefited: farmer, researcher, students, horticulturalist, and
development agent.

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 4. WORK PLAN

Table 2: A six month research plan

Activities December January February March April May
Title selection X
Literature review X
Proposal writing X
Proposal submission X
Proposal presentation X
Site selection X
Land preparation X
Planting X
Watering X X
Fertilization X X X
Data collection X X X
Data analysis X
Report writing X
Final draft submission X
Report defense X

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5. BUDGET AND LOGISTICS

5.1. Personal costs

Table3.Personal costs
No. Qualification Quantity in Duration in Payment rate Total
number month or day per month
1. Field assistant 1 3 month 100 birr 300 birr
2. Daily laborer 1 3 months 80 birr 240 birr
3. Guard 1 3 months 70 birr 210 birr
4 Land rental 3 months 120 birr
Subtotal 870 birr

5.2. Equipment and supplies cost

Table4. Equipment and supplies cost

Item Unit Quantity Unit cost in birr Total
Onion bulb seed Kg 10 100.00 1000 birr
Watering can Number 3 100.00 300birr

Tape meter M 1 150.00 150birr

Spade No. 1 100.00 100 birr

Mulching
Hoe No. 1 120.00 120 birr
Subtotal

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5.3. Stationery cost

Table 5. Stationery cost

No. Items Unit Quantity Unit price in birr Total
1. Pencil No. 2 2.00 4.00 birr
2. Pen No. 2 10 20 birr
3. Notebook No. 1 20.00 20 birr
4 Ruler 1 12.00 12 birr
5. Paper No. 1 85.00 85 birr
6. Print No. 2 25.00 50 birr
7. Binder No. 2 15.00 30 birr
Subtotal 221 birr

5.4. Budget summary

Table6. Budget summary

No. Item Subtotal

1. Personal cost 870 birr
2. Equipment and supplies cost
3. Stationery cost 221birr
5. Total

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 6. REFERENCES

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Planting time and mulching effect on onion development and seed production. Afri. J.
Biotechnol. 8(3):412‒416.

Anisuzzaman, M., M. Ashrafuzzaman, M. K. Ismail and M. A. Uddin, Rahim. 2009. Planting

time and mulching effect on onion development and seed production. African J. of Biot.
Vol. 8 (3), pp. 412-416.

Baba I. Y. Inusah, Alexander NimoWiredu, Julius Yirzagla, Michael Mawunya, and Mohammed
Haruna.2013. Effects of different mulches on the yield and productivity of drip irrigated
onions under tropical conditions. IJAAR (1) 133-140.

Bosekeng, G., 2012. Response of onion (Allium cepaL.) to sowing date and plant
population.MSc Thesis, University of Free State, Bloemfontein.

Brewster, J.L., 1994. Onions and other vegetable Alliums.CAB publishing. UK. 321p.

Brewster, J.L., 2008. Onions and other vegetable alliums.2nd edn.CAB International,
Wallingford, United Kingdom.

Castella J. C. &Quang D. D. (2006). DoiMoi in the Mountains. Land use changes and farmers‟
livelihood strategies in BacKan Province. Vietnam. The Agricultural publishing House
Hanoi.

CSA (Central Statistical Agency) 2014. Agricultural Sample Survey Volume I, Report on area
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CSA (Central Statistical Agency), 2015. Agricultural Sample Survey Volume I, Report on area
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278, Ministry of Agriculture, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 22p.

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CSA (Central Statistics Agency), 2013. Area and production of major crops.Agricultural sample
survey 2012/2013, private peasant holdings, Meher season, Statistical Bulletin 532, Addis
Ababa.

Currah, L. and D. J. Ockendon, 1978. Onions in Tropical Regions, NRI, Bull. 35,Chatham,
Maritime, Kent UK.

Currah, L. and F.J. Proctor, 1990.Onion in tropical regions.Bulletin 35.National Resource

Institute.Chatham, U.K. 91-93, 151p.

Derpsch R. (2001). Conservation tillage, no-tillage and related technologies. In: Garcia Torres
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