Characterization and Analysis of Farming System in Horo Guduru Wollaga Zone, Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

Agriculture is a dominant sector of Ethiopian economy which makes a lion share contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, employment and foreign exchange earnings. Agriculture is still believed to remain a sector that plays an important role in stimulating the overall economic development of the country in the years to come. To improve agricultural productivity it requires detail study on existing farming systems. This study is to characterize and analyze the existing farming system, identify the production constraints and further opportunities in the farming system interventions for the study areas. The study was based on primary and secondary data. A three-stage sampling technique was employed to select respondents from the population. The study was based on cross sectional data collected from 123 randomly selected respondents. About 86.18% of the sample respondents were male headed with while 13.82 were female headed households. The zone was characterized by mixed farming systems i.e. livestock and crop production take place within the same locality. The farmers face production and market constraints to improve production and productivity. The production constraints of livestock production were disease, shortage of grazing land, feed shortage, shortage of veterinary medicine, lack of improved breed and shortage of water while marketing constraints were Market price/demand fluctuation, Lack of information, Lack of market linkage and High transaction cost. The production constraints of crop production were Disease and insect, High cost of inputs, Untimely input supply, Shortage of land, Weed infestation, Shortage of inputs, Low yield, Poor seed quality and Poor soil fertility while market constraints low price of output, lack of market information, lack of market linkage and high transaction cost. Even though the farmers were practice SWC through Check dam and terraces, soil erosion, soil acidity, water logging, soil fertility decline and termite were important constraints in natural resources. Improving livestock productivity through improved breed, forage, control disease and control illegal livestock trade are need attention. Additionally, improving crop productivity through IPM, improved varieties, minimizes transaction cost, focus on high value of crop, expand soil and water conservation, strength market information and linkage where need urgent concentration. Keywords: Oromia , Horo Guduru Wollega, Characterization, farming system DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/102-01 Publication date: October 31 st 2022