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Improved Agricultural Water Management In the Nile Basin
Farming system Tef Barley Wheat Maize Sorghum Finger
Millet Faba
bean Field
pea
Average
Tef based single cropping 8.24 9.21 10.4 16.8 9.18 4.98 10.33 6.83 9.50
Barley based single cropping 8.97 14.81 12.23 18.05 12.88 10.97 12.06 8.78 12.34
Sorghum based single cropping 8.66 10.28 11.62 14.01 11.96 9.59 11.87 9.09 10.89
Sorghum based shifting cultivation
7.26 4.89 6.46 20.68 10.93 6.53 6.00 2.66 8.18
Maize based schifting cultivation 5.77 5.18 6.53 20.38 13.72 6.86 5.17 3.69 8.41
Maize based single cropping 7.28 6.25 7.13 22.04 12.92 9.89 6.81 4.18 9.56
Coffee-maize complex 8.21 7.36 8.05 22.05 14.72 9.08 7.77 5.52 10.35
Barley based double cropping 7.31 9.47 9.90 8.23 8.86 1.60 10.30 6.91 7.82
Enset-root crops complex 5.70 5.11 6.52 17.41 10.12 3.58 4.93 4.36 7.22
Average 7.49 8.06 8.76 19.15 11.52 7.01 8.36 5.78 9.36
Agricultural Productivity in Ethiopian Nile and InterventionsT. Erkossa and S. B. Awulachew
International Water Management Institute
Ethiopian part of Nile is dominated by
mixed crop‐livestock rainfed agriculture.
Agricultural productivity in the area is low
due to: high temporal and spatial variation
in climate, sever land degradation (Figure
1); lack of appropriate technologies; poor
infrastructure & limited extension services,
etc. Interventions for sustained & increased
productivity and reverse the current state
of land degradation are needed. This
poster shows the result of study conducted
to characterize the prevailing farming
systems, identify suitable technologies and
assess their possible impacts.
Introduction Major reasons for low productivity• Poor nutrient & water storage capacity of soils due to land degradation
•Water logging of Vertisols
• Shortage and uneven distribution of rainfall,
• Lack of suitable technologies
Farming systems in the basin is characterized based on: agro‐ecology, soil, major crops grown, degree of crop‐livestock interactionCurrent productivity of farming systems examined & productivity limiting factors identifiedEffects of technologies on productivity demonstrated
• 2 major farming systems; mixed crop‐
livestock & pastoral/ agropastoral
identified (Fig. 2 & 3)
• Major farming systems further
subdivided to make ten subsystems
• Cereal based system composed of
single cropping, double cropping and
shifting cultivation sub‐systems
• Average crop productivity under
current management is less than 1 ton
ha‐1 (Table 1)
Conclusion• Farming systems can be used as basis for technology scaling up
• Use of suitable crop varieties and species, soil and water
management practices significantly increase crop & livestock
productivity
• Integrated application of technologies can maximize the
benefits of the interventions
• The increased crop and livestock productivity improves the
livelihood of the farming communities and ease the pressure
on marginal lands, thus alleviating the current extent of land
degradation
Fig. 1: Land degradation major challenge
Figure 2:The major farming system in BNB
Table 1 Current productivity of the farming systems (100kg ha-1) (CSA 2007)
Methodology
Results
Fig. 3 : Distribution of the farming systems
Location Variety Im proved practice
Trad itiona l practice
% increm ent
loca l 37 .3 28 .4 32 U C B 46 .1 25 .9 78 B eletech 39 .8 26 .3 51 B H _140 45 .9 26 .4 74 B H -660 57 .6 25 .8 124
J im m a
ku len i 46 .2 26 .5 75 B H -540 48 .96 29 .3 67 Adet ku len i 81 .8 50 .6 61 B H -530 81 .7 41 .7 96 Paw e B H -140 76 .7 41 .7 84 B H -140 34 .2 29 18 B ako B eletech 38 .2 29 32
Figure 5: Effect of tie-ridges on productivity of some crops planted in furrows of tied ridges at Kobbo (a dry area in Nile basin) (Source: George et al., 2001)
Figure 4: Effect of organic and inorganic fertilizers on yield of major cerealsSource: Edwards, et al., 2006
Table 2: Effect of improve management practices on productivity of maize
Impact of Technologies•Improved agronomic practices increased productivity of maize by 124% at Jimma and by 96% at Pawe (Table 2)•Use of compost increased barley and wheat yield from 1 ton ha‐1 to 2.5 tons ha‐1 (Figure 4)•Mineral fertilizers increased yield of maize from about 1.7 tons ha‐1 to 2.8 tons ha‐1 (Figure 4)•Use of tie‐ridges increased grain yield of maize, sorghum, wheat and mungbeans by 50 to over 100% as compared to planting on flat beds (Figure 5)•Other studies showed draining the water logged Vertisols can increase the productivity of crops like wheat by over 100%