United States Agency for International Developmen

Baudron, Frédéric

Kahan, D.

Mulatu, E.

Mupangwa, W.

Tirfessa, D.

Yahaya, R.

CGSpace

Conservation agriculture/farmers mechanization: Africa RISING science, innovations and technologies with scaling potential from the Ethiopian Highlands  Frédéric Baudron, Dereje Tirfessa, David Kahan, Esayas Mulatu, Walter Mupangwa, Rabé YahayaCIMMYT(International Maize & Wheat Improvement Centre)Key messages• Yield improving technologies are well known (e.g., row planting, timelyweeding, micro-dosing), but their application generally increases the demandfor farm power: human labor, draught animal power or engine power.• However, farm power has increased very slowly in Ethiopia.• Land preparation is one of the most critical operation, and one of the mostpower intensive.• Zero-tillage (i.e., direct seeding without prior land preparation) allows forquick crop establishment and makes the use of low powered, affordable, andeasy to maintain two-wheel tractors.• Two-wheel tractors are multipurpose sources of power and can be used foroperations such as transport, threshing and water pumping.This poster is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. January 2017We thank farmers and local partners in Africa RISING sites for their contributions to thisresearch. We also acknowledge the support of all donors which globally support the workof the CGIAR centers and their partners through their contributions to the CGIAR systemObjectives and approach• Most Ethiopian farmers are capital constrained and unable to purchase two-wheel tractors individually: they could nevertheless access mechanizationthrough services provided by rural entrepreneurs, backed by an available andstrong aftersales nearby.• In addition, it is not profitable for farmers to own machines unless they provide services.Key results• The time necessary to establish a wheat crop is more than 10 times lower• Wheat grain yield is increased by more than 2 tons per ha• The profitability of service provision increases with multipurpose use of thetractors (e.g., seeding + transport + threshing + water pump), which increasestractor use rates.Significance and scaling potential• Two wheel tractor based planting increases precision at sowing, increases cropyields, and hence contribute significantly towards ensuring household foodsecurity• Drudgery is reduced and, time and labour are saved on the smallholder farm• Two wheel tractor based technologies generate income through serviceprovision and create employment in rural communities• Each 2 wheel tractor can provide services to more than 200 households per yearBiomass shortages, diseases and droughts are challenging theuse of oxen in many parts of Ethiopia. Agriculture in the countryis dominated by labor-intensive operations.Our approach to appropriate mechanization summarized in one picture:a direct seeder powered by a locally available two-wheel tractor (2WT)operated by a rural service provider receiving continuous training.020406080100Conv land prep +seeding2WT direct seedingTime (hoursha-1)024681012Conv land prep + seeding 2WT direct seedingWheat  yield (t ha-1)Comparison of the performance of wheat established conventionally (mareshaploughing, manual seeding and broadcasting of fertilizer) and establishedthrough direct seeding with a two-wheel tractor (2WT).Africa RISING in the Ethiopian HighlandsCore partners 

Conservation agriculture/farmers mechanization: Africa RISING science, innovations and technologies with scaling potential from the Ethiopian Highlands

https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/80003/AR_eth_mechanization_Jan2017.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Conservation agriculture/farmers mechanization: Africa RISING science, innovations and technologies with scaling potential from the Ethiopian Highlands

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