In Ethiopia a large number of sesame seed varieties exist. The varieties that are well known are Humera Gonder and Wellega. The Humera variety is appreciated worldwide for its aroma and sweet taste. It is suitable for various bakery products. The Gonder type is also suitable for the bakery market. The major competitive advantage of the Wellega type is its high oil content.
Sesame seed is considered to be the oldest oilseed crop known to man, domesticated well over 5000 years ago. Sesame is very drought-tolerant. It has been called a survivor crop, with an ability to grow where most crops fail.Sesame (Sesamum indicum) is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for its edible seeds, which grow in pods.
Sesame has one of the highest oil contents of any seed. With a rich nutty flavor, it is a common ingredient in cuisines across the world.
Sesame, like other nuts and foods, can trigger allergy reactions in some people.
The world harvested about 3.84 million metric tonnes of sesame seeds in 2010. The largest producer of sesame seeds in 2010 was Myanmar. The world’s largest exporter of sesame seeds was India, and Japan the largest importer.
It is an annual plant growing 50 to 100 cm (1.6 to 3.3 ft) tall, with opposite leaves 4 to 14 cm (1.6 to 5.5 in) long with an entire margin; they are broad lanceolate, to 5 cm (2 in) broad, at the base of the plant, narrowing to just 1 cm (0.4 in) broad on the flowering stem.
The flowers are yellow, tubular, 3 to 5 cm (1.2 to 2.0 in) long, with a four-lobed mouth. The flowers may vary in colour with some being white, blue or purple.
Sesame fruit is a capsule, normally pubescent, rectangular in section and typically grooved with a short triangular beak. The length of the fruit capsule varies from 2 to 8 cm, its width varies between 0.5 to 2 cm, and the number of loculi from 4 to 12. The fruit naturally splits opens (dehisces) to release the seeds by splitting along the septa from top to bottom or by means of two apical pores, depending on the varietal cultivar. The degree of dehiscence is of importance in breeding for mechanised harvesting as is the insertion height of the first capsule.
Sesame seeds are small. The size, form and colours vary with the thousands of varieties now known. Typically, the seeds are about 3 to 4 millimeters long by 2 millimeters wide and 1 millimeter thick. The seeds are ovate, slightly flattened and somewhat thinner at the eye of the seed (hilum) than at the opposite end. The weight of the seeds are between 20 and 40 milligrams. The seed coat (testa) may be smooth or ribbed.
Sesame seeds come in many colours depending on the cultivar harvested. The most traded variety of Sesame is of white colored. Other common colors are buff, tan, gold, brown, reddish, gray and black.
Sesame seed is sometimes sold with its seed coat removed (decorticated). This is the variety often present on top of buns in developed economies.
Niger seed exports have since 2002 passed coffee exports to the US and accounts for a third of Ethiopia’s exports to America. Ethiopia uses the Niger seed for the oil extraction for human consumption as cooking oil.
The peanut, or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), is a species in the legume or “bean” family (Fabaceae). The peanut was probably first domesticated and cultivated in the valleys of Paraguay. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing 30 to 50 cm (1.0 to 1.6 ft) tall. The leaves are opposite, pinnate with four leaflets (two opposite pairs; no terminal leaflet), each leaflet 1 to 7 cm (⅜ to 2¾ in) long and 1 to 3 cm (⅜ to 1 inch) broad.
The flowers are a typical peaflower in shape, 2 to 4 cm (0.8 to 1.6 in) (¾ to 1½ in) across, yellow with reddish veining. Hypogaea means “under the earth”; after pollination, the flower stalk elongates causing it to bend until the ovary touches the ground. Continued stalk growth then pushes the ovary underground where the mature fruit develops into a legume pod, the peanut – a classical example of geocarpy. Pods are 3 to 7 cm (1.2 to 2.8 in) long, containing 1 to 4 seeds.
Peanuts are known by many other local names such as earthnuts, ground nuts, goober peas, monkey nuts, pygmy nuts and pig nuts. Despite its name and appearance, the peanut is not a nut, but rather a legume.
Castor beans grow naturally and abundantly in the highland of Ethiopia. The leaf of the castor plant are identified as one of the best for silk worms. The oil is rich in ricinoleic acid and is highly valued oil for a wide range of technical uses.
The castor oil plant, Ricinus communis, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It belongs to a monotypic genus, Ricinus, and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of castor and its relation to other species are currently being studied using modern genetic tools. Its seed is the castor bean which, despite its name, is not a true bean. Castor is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, but is widespread throughout tropical regions (and widely grown elsewhere as an ornamental plant). Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The seeds contain between 40% and 60% oil that is rich in triglycerides, mainly ricinolein. The seed contains ricin, a toxin, which is also present in lower concentrations throughout the plant. The castor oil plant can vary greatly in its growth habit and appearance. The variability has been increased by breeders who have selected a range of cultivars for leaf and flower colours, and for oil production. It is a fast-growing, suckering perennial shrub which can reach the size of a small tree (around 12 metres / 39 feet), but it is not cold hardy. The glossy leaves are 15–45 centimetres (5.9–18 in) long, long-stalked, alternate and palmate with 5–12 deep lobes with coarsely toothed segments. In some varieties they start off dark reddish purple or bronze when young, gradually changing to a dark green, sometimes with a reddish tinge, as they mature. The leaves of some other varieties are green practically from the start, whereas in yet others a pigment masks the green colour of all the chlorophyll-bearing parts, leaves, stems and young fruit, so that they remain a dramatic purple-to-reddish-brown throughout the life of the plant. Plants with the dark leaves can be found growing next to those with green leaves, so there probably is only a single gene controlling the production of the pigment in some varieties at least. The stems (and the spherical, spiny seed capsules) also vary in pigmentation. The fruit capsules of some varieties are more showy than the flowers. The flowers are borne in terminal panicle-like inflorescences of green or, in some varieties, shades of red monoecious flowers without petals. The male flowers are yellowish-green with prominent creamy stamens and are carried in ovoid spikes up to 15 centimetres (5.9 in) long; the female flowers, born at the tips of the spikes, have prominent red stigmas. The fruit is a spiny, greenish (to reddish-purple) capsule containing large, oval, shiny, bean-like, highly poisonous seeds with variable brownish mottling. Castor seeds have a warty appendage called the caruncle, which is a type of elaiosome. The caruncle promotes the dispersal of the seed by ants (myrmecochory).
A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae (which also includes gourds). It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America. They typically have a thick, orange or yellow shell, creased from the stem to the bottom, containing the seeds and pulp. Pumpkins are widely grown for commercial use, and are used both in food and recreation. Pumpkin pie, for instance, is a traditional part of Thanksgiving meals in the United States, and pumpkins are frequently carved as decorations around Halloween. A pumpkin that has a little face carved in it and hollowed out and decorated with candles inside is known as a jack o’lantern; these are often used at Halloween, for example, to decorate windows.
In Australian English, the name ‘pumpkin’ generally refers to the broader category called winter squash in North America.
The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon (πέπων), which is Greek for “large melon”. The French adapted this word to pompon, which the British changed to pumpion and later American colonists changed that to the word we use today, “pumpkin”. The origin of pumpkins is not definitively known, although they are thought to have originated in North America. The oldest evidence, pumpkin-related seeds dating between 7000 and 5500 BC, were found in Mexico. Pumpkins are a squash-like fruit that range in size from less than 1 pound (0.45 kilograms) to over 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms).
Since some squash share the same botanical classifications as pumpkins, the names are frequently used interchangeably. In general, pumpkin stems are more rigid, prickly, and angular (with an approximate five-degree angle) than squash stems, which are generally softer, more rounded, and more flared where joined to the fruit.
Pumpkins generally weigh 9–18 lbs (4–8 kg) with the largest (of the species C. maxima) capable of reaching a weight of over 75 lbs (34 kg). The pumpkin varies greatly in shape, ranging from oblate to oblong. The rind is smooth and usually lightly ribbed. Although pumpkins are usually orange or yellow, some fruits are dark green, pale green, orange-yellow, white, red and gray.
Pumpkins are monoecious, having both male and female flowers on the same plant. The female flower is distinguished by the small ovary at the base of the petals. These bright and colorful flowers have extremely short life spans and may only open for as short a time as one day. The color of pumpkins is derived from the orange pigments abundant in them. The main nutrients are lutein and both alpha and beta carotene, the latter of which generates vitamin A in the body.
Linseed is mainly used for the domestic consumption in Ethiopia. Yet linseed is of increasing importance for the industry in highly developed consumer markets due to the specific non saturated fatty acids.
Flax (also known as common flax or linseed) (binomial name: Linum usitatissimum) is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. It is known as Λινάρι (Linari) in Greek.[1] Flax was extensively cultivated in ancient Ethiopia and ancient Egypt.[2] In a prehistoric cave in the Republic of Georgia, dyed flax fibers have been found that date to 30,000 BC,[3][4] implicating it as the first domesticated species in human history. New Zealand flax is not related to flax but was named after it, as both plants are used to produce fibers. Flax is an erect annual plant growing to 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) tall, with slender stems. The leaves are glaucous green, slender lanceolate, 20–40 mm long and 3 mm broad. The flowers are pure pale blue, 15–25 mm diameter, with five petals; they can also be bright red. The fruit is a round, dry capsule 5–9 mm diameter, containing several glossy brown seeds shaped like an apple pip, 4–7 mm long. In addition to referring to the plant itself, the word “flax” may refer to the unspun fibres of the flax plant.
Safflower can be a dual purpose crop: the seeds as oil crop and the petals for extracting dyes. The petals can be picked some weeks before the harvesting of the seeds. The crop can be grown after cereals as a second crop.
Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual. It is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds. Plants are 30 to 150 cm (12 to 59 in) tall with globular flower heads having yellow, orange, or red flowers. Each branch will usually have from one to five flower heads containing 15 to 20 seeds per head. Safflower is native to arid environments having seasonal rain. It grows a deep taproot which enables it to thrive in such environments.
Haricot bean is one of the most important legumes grown in the lowlands of Ethiopia, particularly in the Rift Valley. In these area farmers grow white pea beans for export and home consumption.
Haricot bean plants show two distinct patterns of growth: pole beans, which develop into vines and need support, and the bush or dwarf beans, which grow on low plants. There are numerous varieties of both that have adapted to various climates, countries, and market requirements. Haricot beans contain many varieties including several that are black, as well as the familiar white.Haricot bean, haricots verts, great northern, navy bean, French navy bean, pea bean, California bean are members of a large family of “white beans” and best known as the beans popularized by H.J. Heinz of Pittsburgh. Haricots verts simply means “green beans” in French. Native to Central America, it is the most important legume cultivated in Europe and North America today. It also grows in other temperate and subtropical regions of the world. The plant was first domesticated more than 5,000 years ago; and, by the time of the arrival of Europeans, numerous varieties of varying sizes and colours were being cultivated in the North, Central, and South Americas. The first samples to reach 16th century Europe were the dark red, kidney-shaped variety which earned them the name of “kidney beans”. In France, its Aztec name of ayecotl was soon corrupted to haricot, a name which also meant a meat (ragout), and derived from another word meaning to cut up (harigoter). While the French still use haricot as a general name for a bean, the English use it now only for the small, white, dried bean. HThe haricot bean starts out as pencil-thin, green pods, hand-picked when just the right size. It is considered to be a great delicacy in France. Most haricots sold in the US come from Central America. When dried, haricots become small, white, oval-shaped and can be found in traditional dishes from the Middle East to Italy, France, Greece, and North America, particulary as the main ingredient in the American dish, Boston Baked Beans.
There are four main ways to consume haricot beans:
- They can be picked early and the tender pod consumed. The French or snap beans are a good example and can be either green or yellow.
- The beans can be “popped”. These are known in the Andes as nuñas, which burst out of their seed coats when heated in a little oil and open like “butterflies spreading their wings”. The result tastes a little like roasted peanuts. These were developed for high altitudes where water boils at too low a temperature to permit cooking ordinary dry beans.
- The fresh green beans can be eaten without the pods. Of the many varieties, most are likely to be called shell or shelly beans, meaning that the seeds are extracted from the pods and eaten fresh rather than dried. The best known is Flageolet bean, but there is another called the cranberry bean grown in Argentina and Chile.
Chickpea is the most important pulse crop in Ethiopia. The bulk of the crop variety in the country is dominated by the sweet Desi type, and the Kabuli type is also grown in limited areas. In Ethiopia chickpeas are consumed widely fresh as green vegetables, sprouted, fried roasted and boiled. It is also ground into flour to make baby feed mixed with other cereals, soup bread and meat. It is also used to rehabilitate depleted fallow lands through utilizing crop rotation system. Chickpeas in Ethiopia hold fourth in the production and area coverage in the total pulse category. |
This is an annual herb of the leguminous family .it has green skin and is also called green bean. A recent addition to the Ethiopian pulse production, it is sweet in flavor. It grows in few areas of north Shoa. Hence it is not consumed widely like the other pulses. Despite its growing demand in the international market, there is a chronic shortage of supply in Ethiopia.
Horse bean is the most important pulses crop in terms of area coverage and total annual production .It has manifold advantages in the economic lives of the farming community in the high lands of the country .Horse bean is a source of food ,feed and cash to farmers. It also plays significant role in soil fertility
Lentil is one of the pulse crops grown in the highlands of Ethiopia. It is a popular ingredient of every day diet in the majority household’s .The local consumption is subsequently very high. Its local price is also higher than most of pulse crops it is often claimed that the internal (local) market