Advances in Agriculture, Food Science and Forestry

Large scale demonstration of improved Sorghum technology in Sofi district of Harari region

Oromia Megersa^*, Bedasso Urgessa and Abdulaziz Teha Department of Forestry Development, Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
^*Correspondence: Oromia Megersa, Department of Forestry Development, Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,

Received: 07-Jun-2023, Manuscript No. AAFSF-24-101626; Editor assigned: 09-Jun-2023, Pre QC No. AAFSF-24-101626 (PQ); Reviewed: 23-Jun-2023, QC No. AAFSF-24-101626; Revised: 27-Dec-2023, Manuscript No. AAFSF-24-101626 (R); Published: 03-Jan-2024, DOI: 10.51268/2736-1799.23.12.099

Keywords

Large scale demonstration, Sorghum, Technology, Sofi district, Descriptive statistic

Introduction

Sorghum is the fifth largest produced cereal crop in the world, and one of the staples of the world’s poorest in the developing countries of Africa, and South Asia (FAOSTAT, 2018). For developing countries, their global share in Sorghum production increased mainly due to a doubling of production in Africa from 12 million t in 1980-1982 to 28 million t in 2014-2016. In 2018, Africa’s production further increased to 29.7 (FAOSTAT, 2020). The largest Sorghum producer is the USA with total annual grain production of 8.7 million tons from 2.0 million hectares (FAO, 2019). Oromia is the major leading producer of sorghum for the last five years (CSA, 2018). Of the total land allocated for cereal crops in the Oromia, Sorghum ranked fourth by covering 14.8% of the total area (CSA, 2019). The region’s Sorghum productivity is 28.56 quintals per hectare, which is higher than the national average of 27.36 quintals per hectare.

According to (Christina T, et al., 2016), Sorghum is familiar with different climatic conditions and sustains across various climatic zones. It can adapt commonly more than any other crops, where there is moisture stress. Sorghum is the crop of the future due to the changing global climatic trends (Temesgen B, 2021). It is important in providing food security in many developing countries (Mundia CW, et al., 2019). It is a staple food crop in the drier parts of Africa, China, and India (Ajeigbe HA, et al., 2018; Mrema E, et al., 2020). In Ethiopia, drought and striga weeds are the most constrained (Rebeka G, et al., 2014). This problem is improved by developing technology that is well-adapted to moisture-stress areas. Improved Sorghum variety is an important drought-tolerant technology. Moisture stress and infertile soils are the major problems in the reduction of Sorghum productivity (Gebreyesus BT, 2012).

The farmers grow local varieties, which take more than seven months to mature. Local sorghum varieties which are easily affected by drought and striga weeds are under production resulting in low sorghum productivity. To minimize the problems, the evaluation of improved early maturing Sorghum variety is undertaken by Fedis agricultural research center. The variety performed better and had a yield advantage over the local variety under farmers’ conditions. Farmers have selected improved lowland Sorghum varieties using different criteria such as maturity period, yield, disease tolerance, adaptability, and drought tolerance. Therefore, this activity was undertaken to disseminate the Misikir variety in the study areas through large-scale demonstrations to increase household income and alleviate food shortage.

Specific objectives

• To evaluate the productivity and profitability of the technologies under farmers’ condition
• To create awareness among different key stakeholders on the improved sorghum production.
• To enhance farmers’ knowledge and skills on early maturing sorghum production and management techniques.

Materials and Methods

Area description

The activity is conducted in the Agricultural Growth Program-II implementation district of the Harari region. The region is located at a distance of 526 km from the capital city Finfinne to the Eastern part. It is bordered by the Oromia region in all directions. Ecologically the region is classified as highland, midland, and lowland. The study site is characterized by a moisture-stress area.

Site and farmers’ selection

Sofi district from the Harari region and Kile kebele from the Sofi district were selected purposively based on the potentiality of Sorghum production. Farmers were selected based on their interest in Sorghum production. Farmers were organized into clusters according to their land adjacent with the members considering gender issues. A total of 40 farmers were benefited from the technology.

Technology promotion approach

It is important to conduct cluster-based largescale demonstration activities to bring the impact of the technology. According to their land adjacent to each other farmers were organized into clusters. Farmers producing similar crops like improved Sorghum were selected. Producing in clusters is very important in enhancing access to market information. Farmers and organizations are linked through information to work with key stakeholders to enhance technology diffusion.

Implementation procedures

Misikir variety was provided to farmers with full packages. The variety is sown on a plot size of 0.25 ha/farmer. The seed rate of 12 kg/ha with spacing between row and plant was 75 cm*25 cm respectively. NPS and Urea are applied at a rate of 100 kg/ha. Misikir was planted on 40 farmers’ land. Field supervision is carried out by researchers and development agents regularly.

Capacity building and experience sharing

Theoretical and practical training is given by researchers for farmers, development agents, and experts on agronomic practices and postharvest handling. The field day was organized to evaluate the performance and outcome of the variety and share the lessons with relevant stakeholders. Farmers, development agents, experts, and other key stakeholders attended the field day.

Data to be collected

Farmers benefited from the technology by age and sex, land covered in ha, amount of fertilizer, and seed provided as well as yield data were collected using a checklist. The costbenefit ratio was used to evaluate the profitability of the technology. Knowledge of participant farmers regarding improved Sorghum production technologies was measured before and after implementation.

Methods of data collection

Quantitative data are collected through individual interviews while qualitative data are collected through personal field observation and focus group discussion by using a checklist.

Data analysis

Quantitative data are analyzed using a statistical package for social science. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, minimum, and maximum were used. The profitability of the technology was analyzed using cost-benefit analysis. The knowledge level of beneficiary farmers was analyzed using a paired-sample t-test.

Results and Discussion

Descriptive statistics results

Farm household characteristics: Of the total 40 direct beneficiaries of the technologies, 60% (24) of the farmers were male while 40% (16) were female farmers. The mean age of the farmers who benefited from the technology is 42.13 in a year. The maximum and minimum age of the farm household is 55 and 29 in a year respectively. The above explanation is summarized in the following Table 1.

Table 1: Demographic characteristics of the farmers directly benefited from the technologies.

The descriptive result on capacity building for different stakeholders

A total of 25 farmers, 3 development agents, and 3 experts participated in the training.

Likewise, a total of 30 male and 20 female farmers participated in the field day. Three experts from the district and 3 development agents participated in the field day organized. The above explanation is summarized hereunder in Table 2.

Table 2: The descriptive result on capacity building for different stakeholders.

Descriptive result for Sorghum productivity at Kile Kebele

The Sorghum covered a plot size of 10 hectares. The mean yield obtained per hectare was 33.94 and 15 in quintals for improved and local sorghum respectively (Tables 3-5).

Table 3: Sorghum production and productivity in Sofi district.

Table 4: Pair-wise ranking results based on a variety of traits as to their importance.

Table 5: Farmers’ varietal selection criteria.

Results of the knowledge test

Knowledge test items were prepared based on package practices or agronomic practices. The knowledge level of participant farmers regarding improved early maturing Sorghum production technologies was measured before and after the implementation. 1 point is given for the right answer while 0 for the wrong answer (Tables 6 and 7).

Table 6: Percentage of respondents for each knowledge test item before and after intervention.

Table 7: Paired-sample t-test results for knowledge before and after the technology intervention.

There is a significant mean difference between the knowledge of farmers before and after technology intervention at a 1% significance level. This implies awareness of the farmers regarding improved sorghum production techniques after technology intervention was improved.

Conclusion

The improved technology contributes to improving the production and productivity of farmers. The improved sorghum technology introduced to the study area helps farmers to reduce chronic food insecurity status in the study area. The cost-benefit ratio indicated that the improved Sorghum technology was greater than 1 as compared to the locally produced sorghum. The agriculture and natural resource bureau and agricultural research center should work on the sustainability of an improved variety of Sorghum technologies. The paired-sample ttest indicated that there is an improvement in farmers’ knowledge regarding the improved Sorghum production technologies due to intervention done on the beneficiary farmers. Therefore, it is better if all the concerned body focuses on capacity building to enhance awareness and knowledge of the farmers towards the newly introduced technologies.

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