Abstract
Ethiopia is the second largest producer of wheat in sub-Saharan Africa although yields remain considerably below the global average due to several production constraints. The aim of the study was to identify the primary threats to wheat production, farmers’ selection criteria for wheat varieties, and disease management practices with emphasis on wheat rusts in the Arsi, Bale and West Shewa administrative zones of Ethiopia. A total of 270 wheat growing households were interviewed in the three administrative zones in 2012. Participatory rural appraisal tools, a semi-structured questionnaire and focus group discussions were used to engage with the farmers. Main wheat production constraints were wheat rust diseases, the high costs of fertilizers, shortage of improved seeds and high seed prices. The most important traits that farmers sought in wheat varieties were disease resistance (27.8%) and high grain yield (24.8%). Owing to the limited availability of rusts resistant varieties, and the emergence of virulent pathotypes, fungicide application was the main disease management practice used by 60% of respondent farmers. To enhance wheat production and productivity in Ethiopia, it is important to develop rust resistant varieties considering farmers’ preferences, promote access to wheat production inputs and strengthen seed multiplication and dissemination of improved varieties. Key words: Ethiopia, participatory rural appraisal, rust, seed source, wheat production constraints, wheat traits.
Highlights
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the world’s leading cereal grains serving as a staple food for more than onethird of the global population
The continued planting of rust susceptible varieties poses a serious threat to stable wheat production in the country
The failure to distribute newly released varieties in a timely way exposes the country to an agricultural time bomb, in a scenario ominously similar to the events leading up to the 2010 and 2013 yellow rust and stem rust epidemics, respectively
Summary
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the world’s leading cereal grains serving as a staple food for more than onethird of the global population. It is cultivated on approximately 218 million hectares of land (HGCA, 2014). In Ethiopia wheat is cultivated on over 1.6 million hectares of land, accounting for 13.33% of the total grain crop area, with an annual production of 4.2 million tons, contributing about 15.81% of the total grain production (CSA, 2015). In terms of area of production, wheat ranks fourth after teff (Eragrostis tef Zucc.), maize (Zea mays L.) and Sorghum Wheat ranks third after teff and maize in the country (CSA, 2015)
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