International Food Policy Research Institute/ Ethiopia Strategy Support Program (IFPRI/ ESSP)and Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI) Coordinated a conference with Agriculutral Transformation Agency (ATA) and Ministry of Agriculutrue (MoA) on Teff Value Chain at Hilton Hotel Addis Ababa on October 10, 2013.

1. Row Planting in Tef
Experiences of the MoA & ATA Roll-Out
Oct 9th, 2013
By: Zewdie G/Tsadik
Tef, “from plant to plate”

2. 1. Introduction to tef
2. Current state of tef production
3. Development of tef technology package
4. Results of tef technology package
5. Plans moving forward
1
Outline

3. Tef
[Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter]
2
By many measurements tef is Ethiopia’s most important crop
Proudly Ethiopian
• Cultivated since
4,000 – 1,000 BC
• Traditional ingredient
of national bread
(injira)
• Accounts for largest
area covered by any
crop in the country
Physically Unique
• 1000 seeds = 0.3-0.4g
• Adaptable to range of
soil types and climates
• Draught resistant
Nutritious Food
• High in protein
• Rich in minerals
(iron, calcium, zinc and
magnesium)
• Minute in size, but
packed with a giant
nutritional content.
• Gluten free
• Straw is preferred
livestock fodder
Introduction
Farmer Livelihood
• Grown by over 6 million
farmer households
• Greatest production
value of any crop in
Ethiopia

5. 4
Technologies were developed to address prevalent tef yield inhibitors
including high seed rates and soil nutrient deficiencies
High Seed Rates
Row Planting Transplanting
Soil Nutrient Deficiencies
Blended Fertilizer
Yield Inhibitors
Tef Technology
Solutions
 Increased grain
yields
 Increased straw
yields
 Reduced cost of
seed
 Increased grain
yields
 Increased straw
yields
 Reduced cost of
seed
 Increased grain
yields
 Increased straw
yields
• High seeding rates increase plant density
causing plants to compete for water, soil
nutrients and sunlight. Under these
conditions tef plants have no chance to
show their potential.
• The shift from broadcasting the seed to row
planting can reduce seeding rates to 3-
5kg/ha & improve grain & straw yields.
Plant development is
limited by deficient
essential nutrients
Tef Technology Package
Examples of how two tef technologies are addressing yield inhibitors

6. 5
Over three years tef technologies have experienced aggressive
scale up in response to promising results
2011
2012
2013
1,500 farmers
90 FTCs
167,000 farmers
1,100 FTCs
~1.1 million farmers
Highlights of tef technology package:
• Reduced seed rate (via transplanting or
row planting)
• Improved seed
• Proper fertilizer application
• 2-3cm seed sowing depth
• ATA founded with
emphasis on tef
• 180 DAs from MoA and 6
MSc students work with
ATA and farmers to test
technology package
• Scale up of technology
with
MoA, ATA, RBoAs, EIAR, R
ARIs, RSEs, ESE
• 15,800 farmers and 1,100
FTCs monitored to assess
yield impact
• Intensive scale up is
underway in 160 woredas
implemented by RBoAs
and MoA
• Impact assessment using
random sampling & crop
cutting.
Tef Technology Package
Scope:
Description:
Year:

7. 6
20.1
18.3
15.514.9
13.9
12.012.6
+10%
+18%
+4%+7%
+16%
Average yields by experimental plot across regions
Quintal/hectare
Planting
type
National
Average for
2012
Broadcast by
hand
Broadcast by
hand
Broadcast by
hand
Broadcast by
machine
Row plant Transplant
Seed rate
(kg/ha)
30-50 30-50 5-10 5-10 5-10 0.5-0.7
Fertilizer
type
DAP + Urea DAP +
Urea
DAP +
Urea
DAP +
Urea
DAP +
Urea
DAP +
Urea
Seed type Local Quncho Quncho Quncho Quncho Quncho
Source: 2012 Data from Regional, Zonal and Woreda administration staff (collected Feb-April 2013); CSA 2012
In 2012 FTC plots Quncho and Row Planting were reported as the largest drivers of
yield increase
Results

8. 7
Distribution of yield data for 2012 shows that 30% of all validating farmers surveyed
experienced yield increase between 20 and 80% over the national average
Source: 2012 Data from Regional, Zonal and Woreda administration staff (collected Feb-April 2013)
Note: Includes data from 14,605 farmers (omitted error/outlier data from 15,790 total collected)
Distribution of Validating Farmers’ yields
Frequency of yield increase (as % of total data set)
4
7
6
8
10
8
13
11
7
150 -
200%
125 -
150%
100 -
125%
80 -
100%
60 - 80%40 - 60% Over
200%
20 - 40%10 - 20%Less than
10%
27
~30% of farmers saw a
20 – 80% yield increase
Farmers who broadcasted, used high seed
rates, or may have experienced challenges
with new technologies
~20% of farmers saw a 100 –
200% yield increase (~60% of
this group row planted)
Results

9. 8
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
2000
2927
3540
4250 4526
6260
6631
Grain yield (kg/ha) using transplanting, micro & macronutrient
fertilizers
Results
Source: Tareke & Zewdie, SG2000 (2010) unpublished
Different combinations of fertilizers have significant yield impacts on transplanted tef

11. 10
Properly implemented technologies produce visual results that farmers can see
Transplanted in row High tillering capacity Panicles heavy with seedHigh seed rate & lodging
Results
Field day visitResults of technology are visualTef planted in rows

12. 11
Next Steps
Tef stakeholders should continue to refine and promote tef technology
package beyond the targets of 2013.
Planned vs Achieved number of row planting farmers in
ATA targeted woreda clusters
On-going 2013 ATA activities
related to tef technologies
Number of tef row planting
farmers is increasing reaching
1,158,000 participant farmers
and covering 365,000
hectares of land
MoA & ATA promoted the
technologies to farmers via
trainings, manuals, flyers etc.
The 2013 TC deliverable is to
achieve 50% productivity
increase for 1.6 M technology
adopting farmers

13. 12
Next Steps
a
Performance of transplanted tef in the field:
a) 28 day-old seedlings ready for transplant; b) waterlogged field ready for transplant; c) ten days
after transplanting @ 10X20cm inter and intra-rows; d) three weeks after t/p e) Panicles at grain filling
stage
b c d e
Farmers perceive transplanting to be labour intensive, thus more research should be
conducted around simplifying the planting method. Transplanting in its current form is
best suited for geographies with:
• short main season rainfall is short
• waterlogged soils
• high weed infestation
More research is needed on transplanting to assess the economic trade-offs of
the labour intensive technology
Need to refine transplanting method:

14. 13
Conclusion
 The recommended tef technologies of 2012 increased average yields across regions for
validating farmers by 70% compared to national yield averages reported by the CSA.
 These yield increases were similar to those demonstrated in 2011 with a narrower
group of targeted farmers. It thus appears that the technology package used in 2012 is
scalable to larger targeted farmer numbers.
 Furthermore, there was high yield variance among validating farmers with some
farmers experiencing yields of more than 400%, indicating potential productivity to be
tapped.
 The highest validating farmers after cleaning the data was 59 quintals/ha. This suggests
that with more consistent plot management there is further potential for yield
increases from the average achieved in 2012.
 Field visits through the large-scale demonstration revealed farmers’ hesitancy to
reduce seed rates from their regular practices. Reducing seed rates was perceived as a
risky practice that may not result in improved yields.

15. 14