Research Article - Journal of Agricultural Science and Botany (2025) Volume 8, Issue 7

On-farm potential of improved sorghum varieties in dry lowland areas of Ethiopia

Feeding the world's growing population has become a global issue due to climate change, which has resulted in low agricultural productivity. Although an attempt has been made to feed this growing population by introducing improved agricultural technologies that boost productivity, the sustainability of these introduced technologies is not promising as farmers insist to use traditional way of production. The study was conducted in the districts of Gololcha and Shanana Kolu to investigate the on-farm potentials of Melkam, Tilahun, and Argiti varieties for further scaling out. Melkam had a higher grain yield (3628 kg/ha) than Argiti (3234 kg/ha), Tilahun (3050 kg/ha), and the district average sorghum productivity (2320 kg/ha). The mean yield comparison results of yield performances revealed a significant difference at (p-0.05). The higher gross margin (97,432 Ethiopian birr per hectare) was received from Melkam followed by Argiti (84,824 Ethiopian birr per hectare). Melkam variety had a marginal beneficial advantage of 57,306 over the local, Argiti (44,698) and Tilahun (38,810 Ethiopian birr) per hectare. The improved varieties were also preferred by farmers because of their high yield, early maturity, and drought-tolerant traits. The mean weight score of the selected traits revealed that grain yield and injera-making quality were the top priorities for women farmers, while grain yield and earliness were the top priorities for men farmers. The preference of the two groups differs, indicating that gender matters in the scaling out of improved varieties introduced to the farming community. As a result, it is recommended that Melkam varieties be adopted and scaled out with the recommended production practices in the study areas and areas with similar agroecology to improve food availability and farmers' income.

Author(s):

Fitsum Miruts, Belay Roba*, Derara Sori

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