Addis ababa: Various improved hybrid seeds notably wheat and barley have yielded increased production and productivity, according to the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR).
According to Ethiopian News Agency, EIAR Director General Prof. Nigussie Dechassa said that the institute is playing a crucial role in boosting production by releasing improved hybrid crop varieties of wheat, maize, and barley among others and disseminating them to farmers across the country. He mentioned that some 10 wheat hybrid varieties have been released through research.
Hence, these hybrid varieties played a significant role in enhancing the productivity and production of wheat crops both through summer wheat cultivation and meher crop season over the last seven years, he said. Citing that 14-15 quintals of wheat on average were obtained per hectare 20 years ago, the professor said that the yield now has increased to 36 quintals on average and a maximum of 80 quintals per hectare.
With the hybrid varieties of barley, the demands of malt for breweries can be fully addressed by producing excessively. He recalled that Ethiopia used to import barley for malt as an input for breweries but now, the country has attained its consumption barley by local harvesting over the last 10 years.
The maize production has also boosted production through research, registering 50-70 quintals per hectare and a maximum of 130 quintals, he underlined. Though Ethiopia’s agro-ecology is favorable to produce soybean extensively, the crop has yet to be given attention, Prof. Nigussie stated. By now, research is being conducted on soybean, he said.
According to the professor, 26 varieties of soybean have been identified, with the potential of increasing the output from the previous 17-23 quintals per hectare to 20-26 quintals per hectare. Beyond its significance for household food nutrition value, soybean can also be commercialized for export trade, he underlined.