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1.1 Origin, distribution and botany of tef Tef (Eragrostis tef [Zucc.] Trotter) is an allotetraploid (2n = 4x = 40) cereal crop grown primarily in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the center of origin and diversity of tef. It is entirely cultivated only in Ethiopia as food crop and distributed to several other countries in the 19th century, and it is now cultivated as a forage grass in Australia, India, Kenya and South Africa (Costanza et al., 1979). Intensive studies carried out on tef in USA universities initiated its cultivation for both grain and forage has also begun in USA. Studies so far carried out on morphological, cytological and biochemical characters of wild and cultivated species of tef revealed that Ethiopia is the origin and center of diversity of tef even though the wild relative, Eragrostis pilosa, a weedy species, occurs throughout the world in tropical and temperate regions (e.g. Vavilov, 1951). This wild relative is the closest relative of the cultivated tef, E. tef. E. pilosa is also an allotetraploid and has a karyotype similar to E. tef (Tavassoli, 1986). These two species are similar morphologically. The only known consistent morphological distinction between E. pilosa and E. tef is spikelet shattering of E. pilosa. The multi-floreted spikelets of E. pilosa readily break apart at maturity as a means of natural seed dispersal, whereas the lemmas, paleas, and caryopses of E. tef remain attached to the rachis at maturity and thereby facilitate harvesting (Phillips, 1995). It is speculated that the transition from shattering to non-shattering is one of the most common traits altered during the domestication process as it allows farmers to control seed dispersal. The current tef breeding program makes interspecific crosses between E. pilosa and E. tef with fully fertile resultant progenies. Hence, it is highly likely that Ethiopian farmers domesticated tef from E. pilosa and altered key agronomic features such as seed mass and spikelet shattering through generations of selections. Furthermore, Endeshaw et al. (1995) reported as there is anthropological evidence that E. pilosa is harvested and used as a food source in much the same fashion as E. tef during times of food scarcity. Tef is a C4, self-pollinated annual grass, 40 – 80cm tall. It has a shallow fibrous root system with mostly erect stems, although some cultivars are bending or elbowing types (Plate 1). Its sheaths are smooth, glabrous, open and distinctly shorter than the internodes. It has a

Integrated Agronomic Crop Managements to Improve Tef Productivity Under Terminal Drought