• Agri digitization in good shape
BY HAILE DEMEKE
ADDIS ABABA – Preparation is underway to establish a digital information center that enables farmers and policymakers to easily access agricultural research findings, the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) announced.
Speaking to the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA), Natural Resource Management Research Director at the ATI Temesgen Desalegn (PhD) said the center enables different actors to easily access information and has paramount importance to change the livelihoods of farmers. Previously, there was no such system and agricultural research was not collected properly.
Volunteer agricultural researchers have carried out various activities to establish the center that will collect, analyze and dispatch data to every corner of the country. Also, the center will provide professional advice to farmers via their cell phones.
The system would significantly benefit Ethiopia’s agriculture and be expected to play a significant role in transforming the sector by improving the fertility of the soil, modernizing farming practices, and increasing productivity, the director elaborated.
In a related development, a soil atlas that will support Ethiopia’s farmers about the amount and type of fertilizers they should use in farming plots was published. Ethiopia’s representative at Alliance of Bioversity International and International Cent er for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) Lulseged Tamene (PhD) said the journey to digitize Ethiopia’s agriculture started five years ago. Currently, the establishment of a digital information center is in good shape.
“Agricultural information is crucial to increase production and productivity and significantly contributes to the improvement of farmers’ livelihoods. On the other hand, the preliminary research conducted on the usage of fertilizer has shown a 38 percent production increment.”
Ethiopia is using the 1984 soil atlas launched by the World Food Program and currently established its own system to support farming activities. For his part, Climate Change, Geospatial, and Biometrics Research Director at ATI Girma Mamo (PhD) noted that the system integrates knowledge, finance, and technology and will bring tangible results in the sector.
The number of volunteer agricultural researchers which was 35 has now reached 155, it was learned. ATI was established in 2010 to promote agricultural transformation by supporting governmental, non-governmental, and private sector partners to effect change.
support farming activities. For his part, Climate Change, Geospatial, and Biometrics Research Director at ATI Girma Mamo (PhD) noted that the system integrates knowledge, finance, and technology and will bring tangible results in the sector.
The number of volunteer agricultural researchers which was 35 has now reached 155, it was learned. ATI was established in 2010 to promote agricultural transformation by supporting governmental, non-governmental, and private sector partners to effect change.
The Ethiopian Herald may 7/2023
