Ethiopian Journal of Agricultural Sciences

Determinants of Investments in Sustainable Agricultural Intensification Practices in Ethiopian Central Highlands

Wudineh Getahun, Jema Haji, Abule Mehare, Lemma Zemedu — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract

Improving agricultural productivity and food security while reducing land degradation and poverty using sustainable agricultural intensification practices (SAIPs) has been a key development policy agenda in Ethiopia. However, investment in sustainable agricultural intensification practices remains low. Using a multivariate probit (MVP) and an ordered probit model (OPM), this paper investigates the factors influencing farmers’ choice decisions and the extent of investments in eight SAIPs including improved crop varieties, inorganic fertilizers, pesticides, organic fertilizers, cereal-legume rotation, vegetation, drainages and soil conservation structures based on 385 household and 1465 plot surveys in the Ethiopian central highlands. Results reveal that some practices in major crop production are complementary while others are substitutable, and the factors had heterogeneous impacts on the choice decisions of farmers to invest in multiple SAIPs. Overall, results reveal variables such as crop income, livestock holding, access to extension and credit services, income diversification, membership to agricultural cooperatives, and agricultural commercialization clusters are important in determining choice decisions and the extent of investments in multiple SAIPs. Complementarity between practices and factors that positively determine investments in sustainable practices should be taken into consideration in agricultural policies. Specifically, strengthening local institutions (extension, microfinance, and cooperatives) and training on SAIPs and income diversification need to be in place to enhance sustainable production.

Impact of Malt-Barley Commercialization Clusters on Productivity at Household Level: The Case of Selected Districts of Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Abebe Cheffo, Mengistu Ketema, Abule Mehare, Zekarias Shumeta, Endeshaw Habte — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Ethiopian government has been implementing a clustering program in smallholder agriculture to transform the sector from subsistence to commercial level via increased quantity and quality of products and thereby income of farmers. Nonetheless, such a program can solicit more resources and best be scaled if its benefits can be well known and documented. To this end, this study aims to evaluate the influence of commercialization clusters on the productivity of malt barley at the household level in the Arsi and West Arsi zones of the Oromia region. A multistage stratified random sampling technique was applied for selecting samples. The sample for this analysis includes 360 households for 180 each member and non-members. Descriptive statistics and Inverse probability weighted regression adjustment were applied to analyze the data. Accordingly, there was a significant difference between members and non-members of the cluster program in age and access to the market. More than a half hectare of land per household is covered with malt barley annually with an average of 24 quintals per hectare. The yield difference was significant between members and non-members on the Nearest-neighbour matching result. Expanding malt barley cluster farming on a larger scale can help the nation in general.

Does Cereal Commercialization Enhance Farm Households’ Input Use, Efficiency, and Productivity? A Conditional Mixed Process (CMP) Approach from Rural Ethiopia

Fisseha Zegeye, Abrham Seyoum, Dawit Alemu — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The paper explores how cereal commercialization affects farm households’ input
use, technical efficiency, and productivity in major teff-based mixed-farming areas of
Ethiopia. Analytical tools which included descriptive statistics, conditional mixed
process model, dose-response function, and three-stage least squares regression
model (3SLS) were employed. Our results indicate that farm households sell, on
average 38% of cereal crops produced with variability across the cereal crops. The
simultaneous equation model estimates confer that commercialization positively and
significantly increases farm households’ input use and cereal yield at 1% level.
Ceteris paribus, a 10% increase in the degree of commercialization increases
nitrogen fertilizer, agrochemical, and cereal yield in monetary terms per hectare by
6.8%, 23.4%, and 5.5%, respectively. The results also substantiate that
commercialization enhances the likelihood of using high-yielding varieties and
hiring additional labor to cultivate cereal crops. Hence, the more the farm
households are oriented to the market, the higher they invest in modern technologies.
The 3SLS estimation also confirmed the bi-directional causation between technical
efficiency and commercialization of farm households, signifying that improving farm
households’ input use efficiency leads to a higher degree of commercialization and
vice-versa. Moreover, the results show that the extent of cereal commercialization is
positively determined by sex of the household head, land size, credit service, mobile
phone ownership, improved seed, and agricultural assets, while negatively
influenced by family size, dependency ratio, and non-farm employment. Therefore,
the findings of this study call for policy efforts to mitigate bottlenecks in access to
modern inputs and address factors that hinder the commercial transformation of
farm households

Distribution and Severity of Crenate Broomrape (Orobanche crenata) on Faba Bean (Vicia faba) in Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

Takele Negewo, Tamado Tana, Taye Tessema, Seid Ahmed — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

A root holo-parasite, crenate broomrape (Orobanche crenata Forskal) becomes a
major threat for faba bean (Vicia faba L.) production in northern highlands of
Ethiopia. Information on distribution and problem of crenate broomrape can help
to design suitable management options to reduce its negative impact in already
infested areas and further spread to new areas. To determine the weed species
status in the crop fields, biophysical survey on the parasitic plants’ spatial
distribution and infection was conducted in small holder farmers’ faba bean fields
of Amhara and Tigray National Regional States in 2018 cropping season. The
crenate broomrape was found in all surveyed districts of the regions; Farta,
Fogera, Tach-Gaint, Dessie-Zuria, Kutaber, Mekdela, Tenta, Enda-Mahony and
Ofla district with varying density and infection levels. Maximum mean density of
60 and 44 crenate broomrape shoots per square meter, and infection of 1.35 and
1.15 shoots of the parasite per faba bean plant were recorded in Dessie-Zuria and
Tenta districts, respectively. Therefore, the crenate broomrape is a serious
problem for faba bean production and requires appropriate management strategy
for sustainable production and productivity of the crop in the area.

Brewer’s Spent Yeast Accessibility, Preservation, Storage and Feeding Practices of Smallholder Farmers’ along Major Breweries in Ethiopia

Endale Yadessa, Berhan Tamir, Getu Kitaw, Mesfin Dejene — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Smallholder farmers often replace liquid brewer’s spent yeast (LBSY) with
conventionally used but costly protein sources despite associated poor management and
feeding practices. This study was conducted in three purposively selected districts
(Bedele and Gelan, in Oromia Regional State) and (Wereda-11, in Akaki Kality sub city
in the Addis Ababa city administration) from April to June, 2022 to assess the
accessibility, preservation, storage, and feeding practices of LBSY along major
breweries in Ethiopia. Two peasant associations (PAs) from each district were
purposively selected. Among LBSY beneficiary respondents a total of 182 household
(HH) respondents were selected and individually interviewed using random sampling
techniques. The study revealed that the frequency of LBSY supply was not significantly
(P>0.05) varied across the study districts with 49.5% of the respondents across the
study distracts accessing LBSY only once a week while 26.4, 17.6, and 6.6% of the
respondents reportedly receiving it once per two weeks, once per three weeks and once
per month, respectively. The farm gate purchasing price of LBSY was in the range of
1.00-1.19 birr per liter with increasing trend within the last five years across the study
districts. The majority of respondents (81.3%) across the study districts responded to
having obtained LBSY from local retailers. Plastic barrel was majorly used by
respondents in Wereda-11 (92.2%) and Gelan (93.1%) but 93.6% of respondents in
Bedele used Jeri cans of 20 liter capacity for LBSY storage. Preservation of LBSY under
aqueous saline environment was a common practice to 76.6 and 60.3% of respondents
in Wereda-11and Gelan districts, respectively. According to 67.5, 58.7, and 54.4% of
the respondents in Wereda-11, Bedele, and Gelan districts, respectively roughage diets
are treated with LBSY in mixture with salt, and water before feeding their animals.
More than 82% of the respondents across all the study districts reported that mixing
with feed ingredients was the major mode of offering LBSY to the diet of the animals.
There were significant (P<0.05) variations in milk production performance of dairy
cows across study districts with 60.2% of the respondents were able to observe
incremental changes in milk production capacity of their cows when maintained on
LBSY based rations. Similarly, higher proportions (71.4%) of the respondents across
the study districts, reported as there were no changes in milk quality with LBSY
supplementation. In conclusion, accessibility of LBSY, costs, transportation, and lack of
feeding practices were the major challenges of smallholder farmers when it comes to the
feeding practices of LBSY to the different livestock species in the study districts

nfluence of Treated Wheat Bran, with Effective Microorganisms- on an In vitro Digestibility and In sacco Degradability of a Mixed Ration

Eden Tesfaye, Getachew Animut, Yesihak Yusuf, Mesfin Dejene, Ermias Kebreab — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study assessed the impacts of including a treated wheat bran, with effective
microorganisms (EMWB), in a mixed diet on the chemical composition, in vitro
digestibility, and in sacco degradability of the dry matter (DM) and crude protein
(CP). The treatment consisted of 70% native pasture hay (NPH) and 30% concentrate
mixtures (wheat bran (35%), maize (20%), rice bran (21%), molasses (3%), niger
seedcake (4%), sunflower cake (11%), salt (3%), and limestone (3%)). This
concentrate mixture was substituted with different levels (0, 33, 66 and 100%) of
treated wheat bran forT1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively. The CP content was increased
(7.2, 9.1, 9.2 and 12.2% DM (SEM = 0.214), while the neutral detergent fiber (NDF)
content was decreased with an increasing level of EMWB (66.2, 64.3, 63.7 and 62.1
% DM (SEM = 0.117) for T1, T2, T3 and T4 respectively). Similarly, the contents of
both acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) showed a declining
trend with an increasing EMWB in the diet. The in vitro DM digestibility (IVDMD)
was in the order of T4 > T3 > T2 > T1 (54.9, 56.2, 59.7 and 74.4% (SEM = 0.169),
respectively. An inclusion of EMWB, in the diet enabled to improve the rapidly
degradable (a) and insoluble but potentially soluble (b) fractions of the diets.
Furthermore, the in sacco potential (PD) and effective degradability (ED) of DM and
CP increased with increasing levels of EMWB in the diet. The PD and ED for DM
ranged from 55 to 70% and 37 to 48%, respectively. Similarly, the PD and ED for
CP ranged 25 to 48% and 16 to 22%, respectively. The treatments with EMWB for
example T4 showed the most significant impact on enhancing the nutritive values and
degradability. Consequently, EMWB can completely substitute a commercial
concentrate mixture used in the current study, yielding better results.

Production System Characterization of Coffee in Amhara Region, Ethiopia: Implications for Research and Development Intervention

Sisay Getaneh, Yazie Chanie, Asmamaw Demil, Tilahun Adera — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Although coffee has historically been grown as a garden crop in different areas of
the Amhara Region, there is no complete documentation about the coffee
production system for research and development interventions in the region. This
article was intended to characterize the main socio-economic and biophysical
constraints and opportunities of coffee growing areas in the Amhara region. A
combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used to generate data. A
multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select a total of 344 target coffee
growers. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, frequency,
percentage, SWOT analysis and narration were used. Around 85.50% of the coffee
growers produce coffee as a garden crop. The Region's coffee cropping calendar,
which runs from planting to harvesting, is influenced by the rainfall season and
farmers' access to irrigation. The study found that among the main factors limiting
coffee production in the area are lack of improved coffee varieties, diseases, pests,
drought, farmers' low level of knowledge and skill on pre- and post-harvest
management, limited access to irrigation water, and the growth of unlicensed
traders. The main potential for coffee production in the region, however, were the
emerging primary coffee cooperatives and unions, the presence of NGOs investing
in coffee production, the strong interest of the regional government, and the
availability of coffee nursery sites. The agronomic practice and management
methods used by coffee growers in the area were traditional. Despite different
challenges faced in production and marketing of Amhara region coffee, primary
coffee cooperatives and unions were established. Therefore, there needs to be a
holistic approach to improve the coffee production system, and there needs to be an
improvement in the management skills of cooperatives and unions

Noug Seed Cake Quality and Safety

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Niger (Guizotia abyssinica) is an oil-seed crop cultivated in the highland areas of Ethiopia. It is known locally as noug, and its seed is a major source of edible oil. The by-product that remains after extraction of oil from noug seed is called noug seed cake and serves as the main protein supplement and as a moderate source of energy for livestock production in Ethiopia. Noug seed cake has a high concentration of protein which varies from 25.2 to 38%. However, its nutritional contents are highly variable depending on the environmental factors, variety of the seed, extraction methods, etc. In addition, different physical, chemical, and biological factors were reported to affect the nutritional quality and feed safety of noug seed cake. A visible fungal growth is an indicative of spoilage of noug seed cake, and noug seed cake contamination and moulding are the main source of aflatoxin contamination. Some of the common malpractices that cause the accumulation of moulds and aflatoxin production in noug seed cake include storage of noug seed cake indoors in plastic bags or on the floor without bags, in bags stacked without aeration, absence of raised platforms and store for longer time. It is therefore very important to protect mycotoxin production and contamination and keep the feeding value of noug seed cake safe. Furthermore, adulteration of noug seed cake with other types of oil seed cakes is also a common feed safety issue. Prevention of noug seed cake aflatoxin contamination and keeping it safe requires an on-going and thorough sampling and testing program and strict adherence to guidelines since its contamination is critical to animal health and productivity and also to public health. This is because animal feed is an essential channel for transmission of contaminants to the human food chain. A key area of attention is awareness creation using different tools such as media outlets, public gatherings, and social medias about the dangers of aflatoxin B1 contamination of noug seed cake and its adverse effects on animals and humans. It is also especially important to strengthen nationwide surveillance, increase frequent feed inspections to ensure feed safety, and to increase local education and assistance to ensure that animal feeds are harvested and processed correctly, dried completely, and stored properly.