Chickpea yield in Ethiopia can be doubled by enhancing farmers' technical knowledge: ICRISAT study

Media Release

  • Chickpea yields in Ethiopia could be increased by about 90% by enhancing farmers’ technical knowledge
  • Production could be increased from its current level of about 5,00,000 tons to about 7,50,000 tons
  • Three potential gaps – the size of allocated land, inappropriate usage of nitrogen-phosphorus-sulphur fertilizer and increased use of pesticides –influence the production of chickpea in Ethiopia

ETHIOPIA: A study led by researchers from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has revealed that chickpea yields in Ethiopia could be potentially doubled by enhancing the technical efficiency of its production and technology use.

The study, published in Springer Nature’s Food Security journal, was conducted in three regions of Ethiopia – Amhara, Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region (SNNP) – which are among the major chickpea-growing areas in the country.

As part of this study led by Dr Shalander Kumar, an agricultural economist at ICRISAT, researchers studied 681 chickpea-growing farm households. Using a meta frontier model (a calculation method applied to estimate technical knowledge of different technologies), they analyzed the technical knowledge of the farmers to attain potential crop production per unit of inputs in the identified regions.

Although Ethiopia has witnessed significant improvement in chickpea production and area planted in the past two decades, data analyzed by the researchers showed that the grain yields significantly vary within and across the three study regions.

Farmer harvesting chickpea in Ethiopia: Photo: ICRISAT
Farmer harvesting chickpea in Ethiopia: Photo: ICRISAT

The study revealed that farmers in the three study regions employ different types and levels of technology for chickpea production. Researchers identified three potential gaps – the size of allocated land, inappropriate usage of nitrogen-phosphorus-sulphur fertilizer and increased use of pesticides – that influence the production of chickpea in Ethiopia.

“Relatively larger chickpea farms performed better, most likely benefitting from the specialization and economies of scale. In other words, if farmers allocate suboptimal land sizes to chickpea on their farms, their production performance decreases,” said the study.

Ethiopia is the sixth-largest producer of chickpea globally and the largest in Africa. Chickpea is Ethiopia’s third most important export legume after faba bean and haricot bean, generating a revenue of about US$61 million annually, making chickpea one of the main pulse crops in the country in terms of cropped area, total production and direct human consumption.

Seed producer Bedilu Mamo from Tulu Rae central Ethiopia in his granary with new variety of chickpea seeds. Photo: ICRISAT
Seed producer Bedilu Mamo from Tulu Rae central Ethiopia in his granary with new variety of chickpea seeds. Photo: ICRISAT

Analysis of chickpea production in the three regions revealed that if farmers overcome some of the practical limitations in accessing knowledge-based interventions and capital and adapt to biophysical constraints, it may increase the average technical efficiency of chickpea production from the current level of 0.53 to 0.75 if not 1. It implied that the farmers could increase chickpea output by about 53%.

“Thus, chickpea production in Ethiopia could be increased from its current level of about 500,000 tons to about 750,000 tons by improving technical efficiency while narrowing the yield gaps,” read the study.

The ICRISAT study indicates that enhancing farmers’ awareness through participatory extension programs may further increase chickpea productivity and production in Ethiopia. In addition, strengthening the capacity of women chickpea producers is also likely to result in significant gains in production efficiency and yield levels.

Researchers pointed out policy implications such as realignment of gender priorities at the farm level, access to labor/farm machinery, policy support for enhanced small-scale mechanization and availability of knowledge farmers that can potentially enhance chickpea production and narrow yield gaps.

 

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About The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a pioneering International Organization committed to developing and improving dryland farming and agri-food systems to address the challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and environmental degradation affecting the 2.1 billion people residing in the drylands of Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and beyond.

ICRISAT was established under a Memorandum of Agreement between the Government of India and the CGIAR on the 28 March 1972. In accordance with the Headquarters Agreement, the Government of India has extended the status of a specified “International Organisation” to ICRISAT under section 3 of the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947 of the Republic of India through Extraordinary Gazette Notification No. UI/222(66)/71, dated 28 October 1972, issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

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