Ethiopian pre-meeting of partners – 29 January 2015Frédéric Baudron,

CIMMYT-Ethiopia

CA/SI in Ethiopia:Overcoming challenges, taking advantage

of opportunities

Challenges vs. Prerequisites…(see Sumberg, 2005)

Challenges: variables that are endogenous to the fit between an innovation and a specified group of potential users

Prerequisites: variables that are exogenous

Drivers of CA adoption in the world:

Constraint/cost of energy (= power × time) for crop establishment

Delayed planting (with consequences on yields)

Water-limited yield

Massive erosion problems (threatening medium term productivity of farmland)

These are prerequisites to the adoption of CA (particularly by smallholders who are concerned by short-term benefits)

Challenge 1: competition

with livestock for biomass

Dual-purpose maize variety5 maize varieties

Similar grain and stover yields

640

660

680

700

720

740

760

SC-403 BH-140 Melkassa2

MH_130 MHQ-138

Fib

er c

on

ten

t(g

ND

P k

g D

M-1

)

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

SC-403 BH-140 Melkassa 2 MH_130 MHQ-138

Dig

esti

bili

ty (

% IV

OM

D)

Dual-purpose maize variety

90%

95%

100%

105%

110%

115%

Type 1 Type 2 Type 3

Fulf

ilmen

t o

f th

e en

ergy

re

qu

irem

ent

of

the

her

d

0

2

4

6

8

Type 1 Type 2 Type 3

Mai

ze s

tove

r to

be

use

d a

s su

rfac

e m

ulc

h (

t h

a-1

)

90%140%

SC 403 BH 140 Melkassa 2 MHQ 138 MH 130

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Pro

du

cti

on

co

st

(KS

H L

-1)

Intake of maize residue (kg day-1)(from Romney et al., 2004)

(from Baudron et al., 2014)

Providing incentives to increase

livestock productivity

27%

33%7%

15%

18% Oxen

Cows

Bulls

Heifers

Calves

Providing substitutes to the

current functions of livestock

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

0 1 to

500

501 to

1000

1001

to

1500

1501

to

2000

2001

to

2500

2501

to

3000

3001

to

3500

3501

or

more

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

0 1 to

500

501 to

1000

1001

to

1500

1501

to

2000

2001

to

2500

2501

to

3000

3001

to

3500

3501

or

more

3%

25%

Collective action to control

communal grazing

t = 4.68

P < 0.001

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

Enclosed Open

Teff

yie

ld (

t h

a-1

)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

Enclosed Open

Soil

org

anic

mat

ter

(%)

t = 2.86

P < 0.01

Challenge 2: lack of appropriate

implements to seed with minimum

soil disturbance

CA with a Two-Wheel Tractor:

options commercially available

Strip tillage Direct-seeding: 2 rows Direct-seeding: 1 row

Dramatic reduction in the time

needed to establish a crop…

0

20

40

60

80

100

Conv land

prep +

planting

Conv

planting

Danyang

2BFG

VMP National

ZT

Fitarelli 2R Fitarelli 1R Morrisson

seeder

Tim

e (

ho

ur

ha

-1)

(Data from Hawassa, Ethiopia)

Yield advantage for small grain

0

2

4

6

8

10

Mechanical

seeding

Sowing by hand

Yie

ld (

t/h

a)

Grain

Straw

Challenge 3: increased pest

incidence

Designing pest-suppressive

landscapes

0

5

10

1 10 30

Nu

mb

er

of

par

asit

oid

was

ps

cap

ture

d in

ye

llow

…

Distance to ensete field (m)

0

20

40

60

80

1 10 30Nu

mb

er

of

rove

b

ee

tle

s ca

ptu

red

in

yello

w p

an t

rap

s

Distance to ensete field (m)

0

20

40

60

1 10 30Nu

mb

er

of

ants

ca

ptu

red

in p

itfa

ll tr

aps

Distance to dense hedgerow (m)

Challenge 4: managing

water in CA

Flexibility:

Drainage during wet events

Water harvesting during dry events (tied)

Improved field access for mechanized agriculture

Mechanical weed control

N application when crop N use efficiency is the highest

Reduced seed rates and logging for small grain crops

Permanent Raised Beds/Ridges

Challenge 5: managing

nitrogen in CA

Precision agriculture

Ciudad Obregon, 6 sites, 2001 and 2002

y = 506.42e175.91x

R2 = 0.78

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012 0.014 0.016 0.018

INSEY

Gra

in y

ield

, kg

/ha

O226, 2001

P209, 2001

P227WR, 2002

P227, 2002

P226, 2002

Q212, 2002

(from Freeman and Sayre, pers. com.) INSEY

YIE

LD

No N

limitation

ΔN = 2% × ΔYIELD

Challenge 6: converting

retained resources into

productivity gains

Increased water use efficiency

27

28

29

30

31

32

0-15 15-30 >30

Soil

mo

istu

re (

%)

Depth (cm)

Sole maize CONV

Sole maize CA

27

28

29

30

31

32

0-15 15-30 >30

Soil

mo

istu

re (

%)

Depth (cm)

Sole maize CONV

Maize-Bean CA

6.5 ± 1.2 t ha-1 6.5 ± 1.5 t ha-1 8.6 ± 2.2 t ha-1

Adaptation

(Re)Design

Scaling out

Evalu

ation

Tra

inin

g,

know

ledge

sharing

Plot

Farm

Landscape

Community

Iterative, multi-scale approach

Conclusion

Towards a more client-based approach?

Focus on processes, not on technologies

Combination of technologies: holistic, multi-scale approach

Pathway, ladder approach