Federal democratic republic of ethiopia ministry of agriculture
Sub-component 2.2:Pre-extension Demonstration and Participatory Research Schemes
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- 1.1.10Support to on-farm pre-extension demonstration activities
- 1.1.11Establishment and strengthening of Farmers Research and Extension Groups (FREGs)
- Sub-component 2.3-Source Technology Production
- 1.1.12Production of breeder seed and pre-basic seeds of major crop varieties
- 1.1.13Mass multiplication of disease and insect free tissue culture materials.
- 1.1.14Production of source livestock and forage technologies
Sub-component 2.2:Pre-extension Demonstration and Participatory Research SchemesTechnology development by itself is not an end to achieve the desired development objectives in general and improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in particular. Evidences show that other than socioeconomic constraints, the adoption of improved technologies by smallholder farmers are very limited due mainly to lack of information and awareness. This gap could be addressed by adopting a participatory approach involving farmers early in research demonstrations and popularization of new technologies. This participatory research approach will enhance the adoption of newly developed agricultural technologies that increase the productivity and market surplus of smallholder farmers. These activities are well aligned with activities in component I. 1.1.10Support to on-farm pre-extension demonstration activitiesPre-extension demonstration is the first stage of the extension phase where newly recommended agricultural technologies are demonstrated to the farmers for their technical and economic viability so that it will further enhance the rapid diffusion and adoption of the new technology in wider areas. Pre-extension demonstration is normally carried out in a specific location for a period of 1 to 2 cropping seasons depending on the uptake and nature of the technology. The pre-extension demonstration activities are done following certain procedures and principles. At this stage, the research will identify participating farmers in the target areas with close collaboration with the local office of agriculture and administrations. The number of participating farmers could vary from 100 to 200 farmers per woreda depending on the nature of the technology. Based on the number of participating farmers, the necessary amount of inputs will be prepared and delivered to the target areas. Here, the participating farmers will receive the technology on a revolving scheme so that more farmers are further reached with the new technology. For instance, for crop varieties, the research will provide the initial seed while the participating farmers will manage to handle other necessary inputs for effective implementation of the demonstration. Hence, the demonstration activities are also meant to serve for technology multiplication. Prior to the actual implementation of the demonstrations, farmers and other stakeholders will be given a brief training on the characteristics and management aspects of the new technology. Moreover, in order to demonstrate clearly the performance of the new technology (for instance, new crop varieties), a minimum of a quarter of a hectare per participating farmer will be allotted and the demonstration will be done on a clustering basis where 20 to 30 farmers with adjacent plots will plant similar crop variety. Besides demonstration, the research will carry out popularization of new technologies which is somehow larger than demonstration in terms of area coverage and participating farmers. The demonstration activity commonly covers two to three woredas while the popularization of new technologies will address more woredas. In general, the main purpose of both activities is to show under on farm conditions that the recommended technologies are superior to the local practices so that farmers’ awareness and wider technology adoption will be increased. In order to increase the awareness and adoption of improved agricultural technologies by smallholder farmers and improve their livelihoods, the program will implement pre-extension demonstration and popularization of technologies (crop, livestock and forage, land and water, farm mechanization, food science). The activities will be implemented based on annual sub Project proposal developed by the research based on the local demand obtained from the Agricultural Development Partners Linkage Council (ADPLCs). 1.1.11Establishment and strengthening of Farmers' Research and Extension Groups (FREGs)Currently, different participatory research approaches have been developed and promoted based on the basic premise that farmers do have an extensive stock of knowledge about their environment and hence their perceptions should be treated early in the technology development process to ensure that technologies generated are accepted and widely adopted. In this regard, FREG is one of the participatory researches and development approaches which was established with the major objective of enhancing effective and efficient technology generation and dissemination process. It is important to note that the agricultural research system has been making great progress over the last ten years or so in adopting different participatory approaches including FREG. FREG is very instrumental in linking farmers, research, extension and other stakeholders in technology development and transfer process. It will involve different farmer groups (men and women), research, district agricultural offices, cooperatives, and other development partners. AGP also acknowledges that FREG is an important participatory agricultural research approach in addressing the critical needs of smallholder farmers. Therefore, the program will support the establishment and strengthening of FREGs in such a way that the smallholder farmers actively participate in the technology development and transfer. In addition, it will strengthen FREGs through training, experience sharing and facilitation of regular meetings, workshops and information and communications. The pre-extension demonstration activities, and the establishment and facilitation of FREGs will be implemented by the socio-economic and research-extension wings of the EIAR and RARIs in collaboration with ADPLACs platform members and other components of the proposed program. Sub-component 2.3-Source Technology ProductionProduction of early generation (breeder and pre-basic) seeds and planting materials for further multiplication by concerned value chain actors and on farm technology pre-extension demonstration are very important to sustain the overall operation of the technological innovation systems. These activities are also aligned with the activities of component I. 1.1.12Production of breeder seed and pre-basic seeds of major crop varietiesBreeder and pre-basic seeds/planting materials are the basis of any crop production endeavor. These classes of seeds should always be of high quality and purity. Otherwise, the variety deteriorates within short period and certified seeds produced from such seeds will be of poor quality. To address the demand for high quality seed/planting material of AGP-II, there is a need to purify and produce source seeds of demanded and top performing varieties of the selected value chain crops. The seeds will be produced both during rainy and dry seasons in which the latter needs irrigation facilities. Similarly, productivity of some important horticultural crops (sweet potato, potato, pineapple and banana) has been declining from time to time due to viruses. Conventional plant protection measures did not alleviate the problem because viruses are mainly transmitted through planting materials. Moreover, these crops are propagated by vegetative means and have low multiplication ratio; thus it was not possible to get sufficient and healthy planting material. However, use of seed/planting materials multiplied through tissue culture (TC) would help in producing virus free, true to type planting materials of high value horticultural crops within a short period. Breeders, farmers groups, seed enterprises and cooperatives will be involved in multiplying the seeds. The objective of this activity is to produce breeder and pre-basic seeds of breeder and pre-basic seeds and tissue culture materials for varieties released from the NARS to ultimately supply sufficient and high quality seeds to AGP-II woredas for further multiplication and use. The following are the major tasks to be accomplished:
1.1.13Mass multiplication of disease and insect free tissue culture materials.The Program will support the production of disease free and true to type seeds/planting materials of high value horticultural crops. For multiplication of tissue culture materials for highly demanded horticultural crops, the following activities are undertaken:
1.1.14Production of source livestock and forage technologiesLivestock technologies generated by research entities should be multiplied and maintained to be used as source for large-scale production endeavors. Such activities include multiplication of breeder and pre-basic forage seeds and preferred animal breeds. AGP-II will support the following activities:
1.1.15Land and water resources technology multiplicationLand and water source technologies should be available for technology testing and promotion and provision to beneficiaries. But these technologies are not readily available in the amount required to reach many beneficiaries. Thus, multiplication of source technologies of bio-fertilizers (faba bean, soya bean, common bean, chickpea and lentil) and soil and water conservation based agro-forestry species such as moringa, jatropha, sesbania and tree lucerne is very important. The following are the major tasks to be accomplished:
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