Universities endeavors for agricultural transformation

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BY EPHREM ANDARGCHEW

 Ethiopia is endowed with abundant arable land. Nevertheless, the country had been dependent on imported wheat for several decades, either through purchases or in the form of aid. There has been a mismatch between domestic demand and supply. Following the political reform in mid-2018, Ethiopia has made various efforts to modernize the agriculture sector. The government encourages farmers to improve their agricultural practices. It also provides financial support, training, farm equipment, modern agricultural technologies, and so on. Especially, the government gives due attention to summer wheat development, which is a milestone achievement that is taken as exemplary work by others.

 Ethiopia launched wheat production four years ago with the cultivation of about 3,000 hectares of land through irrigation. In 2022, the production will have covered 405,000 hectares of land. In the past fiscal year alone, the country has managed to produce 16.2 million quintals of irrigated wheat over 405,000 hectares of land in the first round of cultivation. In the second round, Ethiopia cultivated 8.35 million quintals of irrigated wheat on 208,000 hectares of land. As a result, the country has made noteworthy efforts to get the intended wheat production result by providing selected seeds, irrigation, and mechanization. The farmers also pooled their lands together by clustering themselves; they have found it easier to access and make the most of technology. Consequently, Ethiopia gets incredible results not only in substituting wheat imports but also in producing a surplus for exports.

 The combined efforts of the government and the concerned bodies play an important role in the success of wheat production across the country. According to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, “summer wheat production is progressing well,” and “Let us builds on our successes thus far”. “Together with urban agriculture endeavors, we can gradually address food security challenges.” It is true that summer wheat development brings remarkable results. Although the direction of the government plays a significant role in summer wheat development’s promissory results, the universities also contribute to teaching, introducing, promoting, and expanding it. They have been conducting community-based and problem-solving research that has registered notable results in changing the livelihoods of the nearby farming community.

 Among others, Injibara (INU) and Harmaraya (HU) Universities are worth mentioning because they benefit the local community by implementing summer wheat development through irrigation and providing technical support. INU Department of Plant Science Farm Project Coordinator Dr. Amare Aleminew said that the university has made noteworthy contributions to the modernization of farming activities in the Jawi Worerda in the Amhara Regional State. It introduces and promotes summer wheat development in the Woreda by providing expert and technical support through research.

However, the area is lowland, water scarcity is very noticeable, and it is not suitable for wheat production, but INU, by using Tanabelese sugar factory water technology known as a sprinkler watering system, cultivated summer wheat through irrigation. As a result, the university got promissory results this year by getting 25 quintals per hectare, he explained. The university, through its enterprise, has produced summer wheat through irrigation on the 90 hectares of land that it temporarily took from the Tana Beles sugar factory in Jawi Woreda. Accordingly, the Woreda have been able to produce wheat that has never been planted or grown before, he explained.

Previously, the farmers did not have the experience of producing wheat in either the summer or winter seasons. But INU shows the possibility of developing wheat through irrigation. Besides, the university is working vigorously to expand and inculcate the experience of irrigated wheat development among the farmers. “Apart from creating awareness among the farmers that it is possible to produce wheat with irrigation, INU creates a platform to make clear for the farmers plowing methods and how to use modern technologies that prevent damage and enhance production and productivity. So far, the understanding and acceptance of the farmers is promising, which enables INU to use the potential that the Woreda has for wheat development, he added.

Haramaya University (HU) Research Affairs Vice President Associate Professor Tesfaye Lemma, for his part, noted that HU is making various efforts to benefit the people who live in East Hararghe through swelling summer wheat development. HU has given various supports, including certified selected wheat seeds, to 10 Woredas located in East Hararge. HU provides support for 700 households, which are organized into 15 clusters to produce and multiply the selected wheat seeds on 400 hectares in Meta, Muyumulike, Kunbi, and Gursum Woredas. It has also been providing various improved technologies and capacity-building training to the Woreda, Zone, extension workers, and experts focused on pre-, during-, and post-selected wheat production and multiplication processes.

 He recalled that the highlands are densely populated and that the availability of agricultural land is limited. Hence, HU is using the land in the lowlands extensively for wheat development. It has also established a technical committee made up of different bodies to make wheat  development more effective by providing support and monitoring work. Despite the inconvenience of the road, the inability to transport heavy machinery and technologies, and the fact that the people involved in the wheat development are semi-pastoralists that do not have enough experience in it, HU is gaining promissory results by providing support, monitoring tasks, and offering continuous training to them, he added.

 To solve challenges related to technologies, the HU Institute of Technology is  producing prototypes of various light and small technologies for wheat threshing, winnowing, and harvesting. The Institute also starts working to create a solar-powered pump since the price of fuel has risen, which challenges the farmers as well as creates air pollution. Apart from providing necessary support and monitoring activities, HU is conducting research to provide appropriate solutions for the problems that have been observed in the process of wheat production at the national level. Irrigation requires a large supply of water, and the upstream and downstream areas need to ensure water equity through research so that it does not become a source of conflict.

In addition, the research also includes the provision of selected seeds that are suitable for the lowland climate, temperature, humidity, soil types, and disease resistance. It also provides recommendations for the care that should be taken not to cause soil salinity during irrigation. This aims to increase wheat production and productivity as well as improve the income of pastoralists, semi-pastoralists, and farmers participating in the summer wheat development, he stated.

 Although much remains to be done, the two universities play an important role in summer wheat development in areas where it was not known before. Hence, the farmers who were wheat recipients as a form of aid now became producers and exporters. Because the university provides a scientific method and modern technologies in a way that increases production and productivity. Consequently, they have been able to achieve encouraging outcomes that allow farmers who have never planted or grown wheat to grow it and provide it to the market.

THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 30 MAY 2023

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