Onion seed productivity, quality, and profitability in Ethiopia are constrained by declining soil fertility and inadequate fertilizer management, particularly due to a historical reliance only on blanket nitrogen-phosphorus-based recommendations for bulb production. Therefore, the study examined the impacts of NPSB fertilizer, vermicompost, and their integrated application on soil fertility, onion seed yield, and quality in Yaya-Gulele, Oromia, Ethiopia. Treatments comprised a factorial combination of four NPSB rates (0, 75, 150, 225 kg/ha) and four vermicompost rates (0, 1.25, 2.5, 3.75 t/ha), arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Seed quality was evaluated under laboratory conditions using a completely randomized design with four replications. The integrated application of NPSB and vermicompost improved key soil chemical properties, prolonged vegetative growth, and enhanced seed yield and quality parameters of onions compared to sole applications and the control. The highest-performing integrated treatment increased seed yield by up to threefold relative to the control. The integration of 150 kg/ha NPSB with 3.75 t/ha vermicompost was identified as the most agronomically and economically optimal treatment, producing the highest seed yield and net returns. This first report from North Shewa shows that the synergistic integration of NPSB and vermicompost significantly increases onion seed productivity and quality by improving soil fertility. This approach offers a practical and sustainable nutrient management strategy for onion seed production systems in Ethiopia.

Three seed lots each of two varieties of field corn were compared in greenhouse and field studies. Cold test germination percentages of the seed lots were as follows: 79, 85, and 93% for ‘DK656’; 77, 84, and 91% for ‘T1100’. Tank mixes of metolachlor or metolachlor with safener CGA-154281 plus atrazine or formulated metolachlor/atrazine with and without the safener were applied preemergence. Crop stand of either variety or among seed lots within a variety was not affected by herbicide treatments. In the greenhouse, fewer corn plants were injured and growth of plants was greater with herbicides with safener than herbicides without safener. Plant heights and weights at harvest from the most vigorous seed lot of DK656 were higher than those of the other two seed lots. Herbicide treatments with the safener did not cause significant injury to corn in the field. Yields of both varieties increased with herbicide treatments in one conventional planting. No significant differences in injury or yields occurred among seed lots within varieties.

Laboratory and growth room experiments were conducted to determine effects of CGA-133205, oxabetrinil, and flurazole on grain sorghum hybrids ‘DeKalb 46’ and ‘DeKalb 48’ after the seed were treated with the herbicide safeners and stored for up to 24 wk at various relative humidity levels. Each safener treatment had an adverse effect on grain sorghum seed as reflected by fewer normal seedlings at 4 d when averaged over storage time and relative humidity levels. Flurazole and oxabetrinil increased the number of ungerminated seed of both hybrids, and 0.4 and 0.8 g ai kg–1 CGA-133205 increased ungerminated seed of DeKalb 46. At ≥ 8 wk after storage, a reduction in germination was observed for seed treated with flurazole or oxabetrinil compared to seed stored without safener. This reduction also occurred with 0.4 and 0.8 g kg–1 CGA-133205, but only at 24 wk after storage. Each safener treatment minimized reduction in seedling shoot fresh weight by herbicides compared to the no-safener check through 24 wk after storage.