Introduction

Like most higher learning institutions, one of the branches of Debub University , namely, Awassa College of Agriculture (ACA) has a tripartite mandate of teaching, research and extension. And it is this college that has played the major role in establishing the current Debub university using its strong experience of teaching and research.This basic principle has been recognized since the early period of the establishment of ACA. Apart from tackling agricultural and agricultural related problems and seeking a viable solution, the research exercise is meant to enrich the teaching-learning process.
The gradual expansion of research activities both in scope and in intensity necessitated the establishment of a coordinating office. The research and extension office (REO) came into existence in the year 1986/87. Its objectives are:

• Facilitate, coordinate and promote research activities of ACA.
• Oversee the proper execution of approved research projects.
• Monitor and evaluate research.
• Seek various local and foreign research grants and donations.
• Organize seminars, workshops and relevant training in current research topics.
• Manage satellite research substations
• Disseminate research results in collaboration with line ministries (MOA).
• Publish and exchange research reports and collaborate in joint educational and research projects with other research institutes and universities (both local and foreign)

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Current Research Activities

At the moment there are about 41 research projects , see table for current research activities.

Department	Number of Projects
ARSc	15
BSD	5
RDFS	3
PPDF	17
Others	2

 

		Titles of the project	Person/s responsible	Sources of fund	Started in (Year)	Year of completion
	I	Maize Agronomy and Breeding
	1	Maize improvement for Low rain fall Areas by S1selection Method	Berhanu and Hussien	EARO	1990	2003
	2	Drought Tolerant/Resistant Maize Variety Developmente for low and medium Altitudes of Ethiopia	Andarachew G	EARO	-	2004
	3	Developing Stable and Responsive Maize Varieties for Moisture	Hussien M	EARO	2001	2006
	4	Collection and charactreization of ethiopia at adapted Maize Germplasm from some Pocket areas of southern ethiopia	AndargacewG	EARO	2001	2005
	5	Maintains and multiplication of Maize Genotypes/seeds for breeding Purpose	Andarachew and Hussien	EARO	2001	-
	6	Verification Trial	Berhnu and Hussien	EARO	2002	2004
	7	Screening CIMMYT Material for Use in the breeding Program and Develop Stable Varieties	HussinM	EARO	2002	2004
	II	Roots and Tuber Crops
	8	Improving indegenous Crops to ensure Food security of plectranthus edulis	MulugetaT	ESTC	2002	-
	9	Collection and Characterization of Amochi	AndaregachewG	ESTC	2001	2003
	10	Growth, Develipmant and Characterization of Enset and Land-races	Admasu T	NUFU	2001	2005
	11	Analysis and Enhancement of the Utilization of Genetic Diversity through Participatory approach	Admasu T	NORAD	2003	2005
	12	Diversity and Dynamics of Poly-cultivar Enset Fields	BizuayehuT	NORAD	1997	2005
	13	On Sidama folk Nomnclature and Classification of Enset varities	Bizuayehu T	NORAD	1997	2003
	14	Effect of Irrigation on Onion seed Yield and Seed Components	Solomon E	ESTC	2002	2003
	III	Crop Protection -Integerated Pest Management on Major Crops in Ethiopia
	15	Assessement of Extent of Damage and Maize Grain Yield loss due to Turcicum Leaf Blightand common Leat Rust Diseases under Natural Infectionat Awassa	Zelalem M. and Alemayehu C.	EARO	2003	2005
	16	IPM onMaize stalk borer	Ferdu A	Ferdu A	-	-
	17	Studieson Viral diesases in Southern Ethiopia	Tameru A	SAREC/EARO	1994/2002	-
	18	Ecology and Management of Teff-Epilachna	YibrahB	NUFU	2002	2006
	19	Ecology and Mangement of Sweet Potato Buttrfly	Ferdu A	SAREC	2002	2005
	IV	Soils
	20	Low Input Sustainable Agriculture on Rift Valley Soils	Sheleme et al	CIDA	1998	2003
	21	Integrated Nutrient Manegmenet to Attain Sustainable Productivity	Sheleme et al	EU	2002	2006
	V	Forestry /AgroForestry
	22	The Choice of ldeal Alley Cropping Tree /Shrubs	Ambachew D	-	1989	2004
	23	Dirersity and Phylogent of Rhizob	Endalkachew W/M	NUFU	1999	2004
	24	Diversity in Homegarden Agroforestry Systeme in Southen Ethiopia	Tesfaye A	ICRAF	1998	2001
	VI	Fisheries and Aquaculture
	25
		Comparative Age and Growth Study of Commercially lmportant Fish species	Yoseph T/G	EARO	1996	2005
	26	Resource Use and Life History of Commercial Fish in Lake Awassa	ZerihunD	NUFU	2002	2006
	27	Evaluation of dired Algae Biomass and Vitamin Supplement the Effect of itsIncluion in Poultry Ration	Melkamu	ESTC	2003	2005
	VII	Small Ruminants
	28	Evaluation of Indigenous Goats and their Crosses	Girma A	EARO	1999	2005
	29	Survey of Sheep and Goats in southrn Ethiopia	Adugna T	EARO	2001	2003
	30	Effect of Stages of Laction and Feeding Level on Goat Milk Processing Qualities	Fekadu B	-	-	-
	31	Enhancing Income Generation Capacity of Women though lmproving Goat Proauction	Girma A	ALO/NORAD	2000	2003

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Major Achievements

• As part of the national agricultural systems, ACA has played a significant role in generating information and technologies in different disciplines of agricultural sciences. Osme of the major achievements are:
• Development of effective control methods for maize stalk borer
• Development of better-yielding, short duration maize varieties
• Optimization of traditional dairy product processing techniques
• Distribution of crossbred goats in collaboration with FARM Africa
• Methods of improving the feeding value of crop residue
• Prevalence of gastrointestinal nematodes of cattle in different seasons and altitude documented (for the previous Sidamo Administrative Region)
• Methods of reducing total cyanide content of cassava cultivars.

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Source of Funding

Getting funds for research is becoming an important task of many research organizations. Over the past 5 to 7 years the college has made a tremendous effort in attracting both local and international funds. The bulk of research budget comes from the government capital budget. For local funding budgetary requests are made through Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization.
International donor organizations include, SAREC, NUFU, NORAD, CIDA, EU, NRC and USAID