The South West Ethiopian Peoples’ Region, which owns many natural and social values, is a region with a favorable environment for agriculture and animal husbandry. Coffee, spices, oilseeds and honey are widely produced among the agricultural products that have of strategic importance to the region and the national economy. In addition to domestic consumption, it is also contributing to foreign exchange earnings. The region is known for various types of crops, oilseeds and horticulture.
The region receives the highest amount of annual rain. This makes the region not only look greener year after year, but also contributes to agriculture.
Ashenafi Knefu, Deputy Head of the Regional Agriculture Bureau and Head of the Agricultural Sector, said that in the agricultural sector, the region has planned to cultivate a total of 323, 294 hectares of land in the 2023 harvest season and obtain seven million quintals of produce. During the production season, 322, 911 hectares of land is covered with seeds.
He mentioned that there was a possibility that the region could go beyond the plan in covering the fields. However, it was not possible to cover the fields with seeds in a proper way due to the cessation of rain in August. Even after the cessation of the rains, eight thousand hectares of crops were destroyed and replaced by other crops.
As to him, it is planned to provide 10,000 quintals of best seeds during the harvest season. A total of 15,765 quintals of certified best seeds have been put to use. Soil fertilizer covering 36, 356 hectares of land was used.
He recalled that although there are problems related to the supply and distribution of soil fertilizers in the country, it was planned to provide soil fertilizers covering 72 thousand hectares of land. The amount of urea fertilizer is constantly increasing so that 36,356 hectares of land is covered with the fertilizer.
Ashenafi mentioned that during the autumn season, large fields in the region are covered with seeds. It was possible to cover 325, 556 hectares of land with seeds. He indicated that in addition to the one covered with seeds during the harvest; a total of around 650,000 hectares of land is covered only with crops.
When horticulture and permanent crops are added, according to Ashenafi, the land covered by crops and horticulture in the spring and autumn seasons is about 900,000 hectares. Therefore, in the two production seasons, a total of more than 85 million quintals of produce is available from the region.
While explaining about product collection, he mentioned that there is a time when the crops obtained in the spring and autumn are harvested at the same time. The crop will be harvested in a series of periods starting from September.
It is expected that 11.3 million quintals of the production will be available during the autumn and seven million quintals will be produced from the fields covered with seeds during the harvest season. In total, it is expected that 18 million quintals of crops will be produced in 2023.
The annual production of the region has a large share in the country’s market when it is provided to market. The region has potential in the field of horticulture in addition to cash crops. Especially bananas, avocados and mangoes are widely produced in the area. This production is supplied to the central market beyond the local market. This has made the region’s share in the economy high.
Ashenafi mentioned about the problems encountered in the region during the production period. In particular, he recalled that there was lack of rain and the occurrence of diseases and pests related to shortage of rain. He stated that this reduced the amount of crops. The problem occurred during the sprout season, and prevention of the disease and pest that occurred during this season was done. Monitoring and control work is being done on the crops that are still in sprout stage.
In connection with the fact that the region of Southwest Ethiopia is blessed with nature, what has been done in terms of irrigation development in addition to the rainy season and the harvest season, Ashenafi also said that summer irrigated wheat and horticulture development has been planned and implemented as a region. Summer irrigation work has been started in six zones of the region, namely Kefa, Dauro, Bench Sheko, Konta, Sheka and West Omo Zones, paying special attention to summer irrigation wheat.
He mentioned that they are planning to cover more than 7,140 hectares of land with wheat crops in summer irrigation, but the amount is very low compared to the potential of the region. The main problem for this is lack of irrigation infrastructure development in the region. It is difficult to carry out irrigation schemes and horticulture development in the summer when the irrigation infrastructure is not complete.
However, Ashenafi said that the necessary preparatory work is being done so that the region can use its full potential to produce various products through summer irrigation. Preparations are being made for mass production, including pumps, which are necessary for development. In connection with this, awareness trainings will be given to the farmers by creating a joint movement platform, and the region will be completely involved in summer irrigation development.
The Southwest Ethiopian People’s Region has 3,000 hectares of land that can be irrigated. Although the region has a large land cover that can be cultivated by irrigation, the irrigation infrastructure in the area is not complete, so summer irrigation could not be used to its full potential. In addition to irrigation infrastructure, he mentioned the existence of road problems in areas where irrigation development can be done. There is no road in the Omo zone where there is a large land that can be cultivated by irrigation.
As he said, In addition to the Omo River, there are also large rivers in Sheka, Dauro and other areas. The areas have large tracts of land that can be cultivated under summer irrigation. However, roads and irrigation networks have not been developed to reach the area. For this, the region’s government is working together with the federal government to complete the infrastructure.
However, for the time being, summer irrigation wheat is being cultivated from scratch with the help of pumps from local infrastructure and traditional irrigation users. Especially in 2023, better work is being done, he said.
Last year, 3,500 hectares of land was covered with seeds under summer irrigation, but now efforts are underway to double this figure. In the future, when road infrastructures are completed and irrigation networks are laid and favorable conditions are created, the existing situation shows that twice as many hundreds of thousands of hectares of land can be cultivated with summer irrigation wheat and other crops.
Ashenafi mentioned that fertilizer is one of the most challenging problems for agriculture. Despite the fact that there is a fertilizer problem in the country, arrangements have been made to provide fertilizer on time during the current seeding season. One of the main problems in the region is high rainfall. Due to this, the problem of soil acidity is happening in the region. For this, the soil is being treated with lime to increase production and productivity in collaboration with the federal government, he said.
He mentioned that in the region, there is an experience of manual weed control, but now an integrated weed and disease control system is being implemented. There is a large swarm of bees in the Southwest Ethiopian People’s Region, and for this reason, the region does not focus on chemicals and does not use chemicals like other regions. Manual weeding is being widely practiced by providing training to experts and this is important to maintain the fertility of the land and the biodiversity of the area.
Ashenafi stated that the use of natural fertilizers is common in the region. Natural fertilizer can be widely used for grain crops especially during the harvest season. A natural fertilizer produced by a factory called bio-fertilizer is being used in the region. This can meet the demand of urea for the crops, so it is being widely used.
In addition to this, Ashenafi pointed out that preparation of compost for horticulture crops is being widely done at the farmer level. The principle of “one farmer, one compost pit” is being widely implemented by creating common understanding. Educating the farmers and increasing their awareness will continue. Currently, some crops, including coffee, are being grown completely with compost. This will continue with other crops, he confirmed.
BY BACHA ZEWDIE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 15 OCTOBER 2023
