last final thesis of umer

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Maize (Zea mays, L) is one of the major cereals and chief sources of energy in human diet. It is
the most widely distributed cereal crop. Maize has a number of uses as food for man, feed for
livestock and for making many kinds of non-food products (Usha and Pandey, 2007). It is the most
versatile crop with wider adaptability in varied agro-ecologies and has highest genetic yield
potential among the food grain crops. New production technologies offer great promise for
increasing maize productivity to meet the growing demands of world consumers. For decades,
maize growers have worked for continuous improvement and greater efficiency (Singh et al.,
2002).
In Ethiopia maize is the second in area coverage (2,128,948.91 hectares annually) next to Teff
(3,023,283.50 hectares) and first in production (83,958,872.44 quintals) (CSA, 2018).Maize is
grown primarily in the Amhara, Oromia and SNNP regions of Ethiopia (FAO, 2008). From 2001
to 2011, maize production increased by 50%, due to increases in both per hectare yields (+25%)
and area under cultivation (+20%).So maize continues to be a significant contributor to the
economic and social development of Ethiopia (Mogues, et al., 2008).
Cowpea is an important food grain legume for over 200 million people in the dry savanna
of tropical Africa and its grain is a good source of human protein, while the haulms are
valuable source of livestock protein (Fatokun, 2002). The dried seed and green pods are
consumed as human food. It is cultivated between 35 0 N to 30 0 S of the equator .Being a drought
tolerant crop with better growth in warm climates, cowpea is most popular in the semi-arid regions
of the tropics, where other food legumes do not perform well.
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