Actors behind soil and water conservation structures: a case study in Tigray, Ethiopia

Soil and water conservation (SWC) structures do not crop up of their own accord. Understanding the strategies and objectives of different actors that play a role in the implementation of SWC techniques is a key to explaining the latter’s effectiveness and efficiency. The role of and interaction between the state, as a deliverer of rural development interventions, and farmers, as their receivers, in SWC programmes have been studied in a rural society in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Data have been gathered by participant observation, complemented with open and semi-structured interviews with both farmers and development workers. A sustainable livelihood approach (DFID among others) has been used and adapted to conceptualize the role of agency in creating differential livelihood impacts of one single development intervention. In the study area farmers’ and developers’ objectives and strategies influence the performance and sustainability of SWC structures in two ways. Firstly the majority of SWC structures are built within the framework of food for work (FFW) programmes on village scale organised by the government to bridge seasonal food gaps. Employment in these FFW programmes depends on farmers’ readiness to adopt newly introduced techniques and technologies, some of them for their part in the field of SWC. These back- and forward linkages between FFW and SWC have consequences for SWC measures’ success and sustainability, as farmers are willing and competing to participate in FFW programmes. Secondly farmers’ room for participation in the decision making process with respect to rural development and environmental rehabilitation in the study area is limited. This influences SWC measures' sustainability, as households are pushed to look for other opportunities to go about with development interventions.status: publishe

Short-term effects of conservation agriculture on Vertisols under tef (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter) in the northern Ethiopian highlands

Soil erosion and declining soil quality are the major constraints for crop production and sustainable land management in Ethiopia. A conservation agriculture (CA) experiment was conducted in 2006 at Gumselasa, Northern Ethiopia, on experimental plots established in 2005 on a farmer’s field. The objectives of this experiment were to evaluate the short-term changes in soil quality of a Vertisol due to the implementation of conservation agriculture practices and to assess their effect on soil erosion, crop yield and yield components of tef (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter). The treatments were permanent bed (PB), terwah (TERW) and conventional tillage (TRAD). Soil organicmatter (SOM) was significantly higher in PB (2.49%) compared to TRAD (2.33%) and TERW (2.36%). Although aggregate stability of PB (0.94) was higher than TRAD (0.83), the difference was not significant. PB had larger macroporosity (0.07 m3 mÿ3) compared to the other treatments. PB reduced runoff volume by 50% and TERW by 16% compared to TRAD. PB also reduced soil loss by 86% and TERW by 53% in comparison to TRAD. Despite the above soil physical quality improvements and effectiveness in runoff and soil loss reduction, biomass and plant height of tef were significantly higher in TRAD than PB. The significantly high weed dry matter at first weeding, the types of weeds and their water uptake behavior might have caused the lower tef yield on the PB. Wetherefore recommend that appropriate rate of herbicides must be used while growing tef using CA practices.status: publishe

Growing apple (Malus Domestica) under tropical mountain climate conditions in Northern Ethiopia

Lack of effective chilling during the dormant season is one of the major problems when apples are growing under a tropical climate. We evaluated the response of different apple cultivars (Golden Delicious, Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith and Jonagold) grown on M9 rootstock with different dormancy-management practices. The trials were carried out between 2004 and 2006 in a tropical mountain area (Tigray, Ethiopia), where chilling conditions are poor with the aimof improving and synchronizing the bud break and the blossoming period of these apple cultivars. Two-year-old well-feathered trees were planted in two experimental trial sites in a randomized complete block design. Trees were subjected to the following treatments in two sets of experiments: one defoliation per year only; two defoliations per year, one defoliation followed by 1% hydrogen cyanamide (Dormex) treatment; one defoliation followed by 2% Dormex treatment; one defoliation followed by 4% winter oil; one defoliation followed by 0.5% Dormex and 2% winter oil; and a control with no defoliation or dormancy breaking treatments. The results show positive effects of the dormancy breaking agents on the productivity of the trees after defoliation, with comparable results for the effectiveness of both Dormex and winter oil. There were no statistically significant differences between the Dormex doses. The defoliation treatment alone was not sufficient to break dormancy for the cultivars Golden Delicious, Granny Smith or Gala but showed promising results with dormancy breaking on Jonagold. Yields increased as a result of better lowering time synchronization within a tree but even with the dormancy treatments the length of the flowering period was still spread over five weeks, where under a more temperate climate it lasted two to three weeks. The average fruit weight of Jonagold and Granny Smith can be considered as a good fruit quality while the fruit of other diploid cultivars like Golden, Gala and Fuji were rather small, which indicates that fruit thinning by hand will be a necessity for these cultivars. Red colouration of the apples on the cultivars Gala and Jonagold was excellent and meets the standards necessary for commercialization of these fruits. The sugar concentration of the fruits and the fruit firmness at harvest was high. The results of these first trials indicate that it is possible to develop new apple production in the mountain region of Tigray, Ethiopia.status: publishe

Short term effects of conservation agriculture on soil erosion and agronomic parameters of Teff (Eragrostis Tef (Zucc.) Trotter) on the vertisols of Northern Ethiopian highlands

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