Irrigation-based Wheat Production:

A transformation from Import to Export

EIAR
 Irrigation-based Wheat Production:
A transformation from Import to Export

E
Wheat is one of the major
cereal crops produced by 4.6
thiopia is one of the million smallholder farmers on
top-performing economies in 1.8 million hectares of land with
Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) as the an estimated annual production
country has been able to register of 5.0 million tons at an average
an average growth rate of more productivity of 2.8 t/ha which
than 10% over the past decades. has been consistently increasing
for the last 25 years, but much
Wheat is one of the strategic lower than the world average
crops in Ethiopia, because of its 3.3 t/ha. Despite the recent pro-
role for food security, import duction increment, Ethiopia falls
substitution and supply of raw short of being self-sufficient in
material for agro-processing wheat production, and contin-
industry. Ethiopia is the third ually remains a net importer of
largest wheat producing country about 1.7 million tons of wheat,
in Africa. draining the national treasury.

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 food basket per
an- num, i.e. exact-
ly what our country
has imported in 2018.
Under the second sce-
nario of expanding
wheat production to
the lowland agro-ecol-
ogies, Ethiopia needs
Figure 1. Wheat consumpetion, production &
to bring about 400,
import, 1961-2019
The demand for wheat in Ethiopia is grow- 000 ha of land under
ing faster than for any other food crop, par- irrigation with aver-
ticularly in urban areas. The gap between age productivity of
demand and supply is widening because 4.4 t/ ha, to make the
of rapidly increasing population, chang- county self-sufficient.
ing preferences towards wheat-based food Therefore, the prac-
items, and precarious wheat yield resulting tical scenario should
from climate change and its consequent ad- combine options of
versities such as drought, diseases and insect both vertical and hor-
pests. Nevertheless, while consumption is izontal increments of
increasing at the rate of 9.0% per annum the wheat production in
local production is increasing at only 7.8% order to make Ethi-
making the demand to outstrip the supply. opia’s wheat import
a history. Cognizant
Prospects for Wheat Self-Sufficiency to the aforemen-
Ethiopia’s prospect of wheat self-suffi-cien- tioned facts, the Gov-
cy within 1-2 years can be possible because erment of Ethiopia
of two favorable and realistic scenarios; in- (GoE) has already
creasing wheat productivity in the rain-fed identified key pri- or-
agro-ecologies and expansion of production ity intervention areas
to the irrigable lowland areas. Raising wheat to increase productivi-
productivity, in the rain-fed areas of 1.8 mil- ty of small-scale farm-
lion ha, from the current 2.8 t/ha to 3.8 t/ha, ers and expand large-
could bring about an additional increase of scale commercial
1.8 million tons of wheat grain to the national production of wheat.
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The top priorities identified include: suitable for the irrigated
development of small- and large- lowland areas in sequence
scale irrigation schemes, financing with cotton and/ or soybean.
effectual supply of agricultural in- Werer Agricultural Research
puts, improving agricultural pro- Center is the coordinating
duction methods using mechani- center for lowland irrigated
zation, post-harvest loss reduction wheat re- search in Ethio-
and natural resources management. pia. Thus far, Werer Research
Accordingly, the GoE has set a goal Center has released, since
to enhance local wheat produc- 2008, seven bread wheat
tion, attain wheat self-sufficiency and one durum wheat variet-
and end the import by 2021. This ies suitable for lowland irri-
could be possible mainly through gated agro-ecologies (Table
wheat land area expansion that 1). More than 100 bread and
is readily and widely available in durum wheat varieties suit-
the lowland agro-ecologies of the able for highland rain-fed
country particularly in the Awash, agro-ecologies were released
Omo and Shebele river basins. since 1950’s. Research find-
ings from Werer clearly
Lowland irrigated wheat rsearch: showed that improved pack-
achievements ages of high-yielding, heat-
The Ethiopian Institute of Agricul- and stress-tolerant wheat
tural Research (EIAR), in collabo- varieties could yield up to
ration with its strategic partners, 65 t/ha, indicating the pos-
has long been striving to change sibility and suitability of the
the production system of cereals hot lowland irrigated areas
by developing wheat technologies for bumper harvest of wheat.

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Table 1. List of recently released wheat varieties for irrigated areas
Type Variety Year of Maturity Yield
release days (t/ha)
Ga’ambo 2011 85 4.5-5.0
Lucy 2013 81 4.0-5.0
Werer-2 2013 82 4.0-4.5
Bread
Fentale-1 2015 82 5.0-5.7
wheat
Amibera-1 2015 90 5.0-5.1
Fentale-2 2017 81 5.5-6.5
Amibera-2 2017 79 5.0-6.0
Durum Werer-1 2008 87 3.0-3.5

Wheat Seed Production: enterprises are responsible for

Wheat seed is the vehicle to large-scale certified seed pro-
trans- fer improved varieties duction. In addition, a wide
(genetic gains) to farmers. Avail- range of semi-formal or inter-
ability of ad- equate and quality mediate seed sector ac- tors
seed is a critical requirement for represented by local seed busi-
sustainable wheat production. nesses are engaged in produc-
Weak wheat seed pro- duction tion and distribution of Quality
and delivery system are often Declared Seed (QDS). The EIAR
mentioned as major con- straints in collaboration with develop-
to wheat production in Ethiopia. ment partners has been provid-
If the wheat seed system is ro- ing support on the development
bust, then the wheat sub-sector of efficient, gender-responsive
would be strengthened result- community-based wheat seed
ing in a bumper harvest, which production and delivery system.
in turn leads to wheat self-suf- Although there are several pub-
ficiency and food security. The lic enterprises for the rain-fed
various entities of the Ethiopian wheat seed production, lack of
Agricultural Research System are public seed enterprises respon-
responsible for Early Generation sible for irrigated wheat seed
Seed (EGS) production where- production has seriously con-
as the public and private seed strained supply of seed and thus
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hindered rapid dissemination and State in 2012 (Table 2).
diffusion of irrigated wheat produc- Since then, the promotion
tion in Ethiopia. activities were progressive-
ly increased over years and
Irrigated Wheat Initiatives: widely expanded to other
Productivity, Land Area and Job regions such as Oromia and
Creation SNNP by involving many
The major focus of wheat initiative farmers, agro-pastorals
is to radically improve wheat pro- and large-scale commercial
duction by deploying best-bet wheat farms. During 2019/20 crop-
technologies in the major wheat ping season, land area cov-
growing agro-ecologies of Ethiopia. ered by irrigated wheat in
Improved irrigated wheat technol- different regions surpassed
ogy demonstration was started on 15, 100 ha, and the Afar Re-
a hectare of land around Werer Re- gion takes the lion’s share fol-
search Center in the Afar Regional lowed by Oromia and SNNP.
Table 2. Trends of irrigated wheat improved technology promotion in
Ethiopia (2012-2019)
Year of Area covered Productivity Total Production
demonstration (ha) (t/ha) (ton)

2012/13 1 2.9 2.9

2013/14 3 3.8 11.6
2014/15 30 4.2 126.0
2015/16 58 3.7 213.7
2016/17 109 2.9 316.7
2017/18 804 3.7 3,029.8
2018/19 3,502 4.4 15,400.0
2019/20 15,100 ? not yet ? not yet
harvested estimated

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Outcome of the Wheat Initiative owners, drivers, financial
The intervention with best-bet ser- vice-providers and input
irrigated wheat technologies suppliers. Thus, in Ethiopia
has brought about a significant wheat production provides
outcome on wheat productiv- on- and off-farm job opportu-
ity, land area and job creation. nities that can absorb quite a
Wheat yield increased from 2.9 large number of employees.
t/ha in 2012 to 4.4 t/ha in 2019, While the majority of Ethiopian
which is an increase of 51.7%. youth aspires to see its future
Irrigated wheat land area also outside agriculture, many good
increased by many folds, but job opportunities remain in ag-
there is still enormous poten- riculture particularly in wheat
tial for more area of expansion. production along its value
With regard to job creation, dis- chain. However, making wheat
semination and popularization production activities attractive
of improved wheat technolo- and competitive, through im-
gy has created many additional proved technologies, innova-
jobs in the intervention areas tion and investment, are very
and along the wheat value chain. crucial. Therefore, the renewed
The enhanced and best-bet wheat commitment of the GoE to in-
production system created many vest on wheat production prov-
new and good jobs along the identially brightens the future.
down- and up- stream in the val- Highly successful national, re-
ue chain including production, gional and community level
aggregation, storage, milling, farmers’ field days were held
processing, logistics, food prepa- in different districts with the
ration, bakeries, pastries, restau- aim of enhancing dissemina-
rants and other related services. tion of improved packages of
This indicates that many on-farm wheat technology particular-
and off-farm employment oppor- ly through farmer-to-farmer
tunities are emerging because technology diffusion system.
of the interventions on wheat. The field days brought togeth-
Mechanized wheat produc- er many stakeholdersinclud-
tion also created job opportu- ing policy makers, farmers, re-
nities for tractor/combiner searchers, extension workers,
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input and credit providers, pro- Status of Wheat Technolo-
cessors, millers and manufactur- gy Demonstration and Seed
ers for exchange of information, Production in 2019/20
experience and expertise. On the During 2019/20 cropping
field days, leaflets and brochures sea- son, the EIAR has been
were distributed. The national promoting large-scale demon-
and regional field day events were strations of irrigated wheat
aired on national and regional TVs and seed production on more
and radios and well documented than 12,500 hectares in the
on newspapers. Awash Basin (Table 3). Out
of these 3,000 ha are for seed
Advocacy was another influential
production. Similarly, the Min-
aspect used for effective and sus-
istry of Agriculture (MoA) and
tainable wheat production. Four
Agricultural Research Council
wheat-focused advocacy events
(EARC) in collaboration with
were held at federal and region
Agricultural Transformation
levels. The government has been
Agency (ATA) are promoting
providing support to solve key
the same technologies in the
constraints of wheat production
Omo and Shebelle river basins
including: timely supply of inputs
on 500 and 2,100 hectares, re-
(seeds, fertilizers, and chemicals),
spectively (Table 3). In general,
farm machineries and credit ca-
the performances of best-bet
pacity to mobilize capital. Policy
irrigated wheat technology
advocacy also played a significant
demonstration and populariza-
role to encourage and influence
tion are encouraging and this
different stakeholders who hold
clearly justifies the need for
decision-making power. As a re-
further scaling up/out in dif-
sult, all wheat value chain stake-
ferent parts of the country by
holders and actors agreed to join
involving diverse actors such
hands and enhance production.
as public, private, smallhold-
Thus, irrigated wheat produc-
er farmers, pastoralists and
tion is complementary to Ethi-
other development partners.
opia’s wheat initiative that can
lead to self-sufficient by 2021.

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Table 3. Demonstration and dissemination of improved lowland wheat
technologies during 2019/20 cool season.
River Clusters Districts Total land
valley area (ha)
Tibilla Sire, Jeju and Merti 866
Fentale Boset & Fentale 954
Amibara Awash Fentale, Amibara, 2570
Dulecha,
Awash
Gewane Gewane & Buremedayitu 450
Dubti Dubti, Asaita, Afambo & 4760
Gerani
Other Oro- East Shoa, West Shoa & 2900
mia Clusters SW Shoa
Sub-total 12,500
Omo Omo Arma Minch Zuria, 500
South Omo
Shebele Gode Gode 2,100
Total 15,100

Training and Capacity Build- such as land preparation, ap-

ings propriate sowing time, plant-
Training of farmers, devel- ing methods, optimum fertiliz-
op- ment agents and extension er and water application, weed
workers was considered as and pest control, quality seed
the means through which im- production and post-harvest
proved technologies, knowl- handling, and community-based
edge and skills are conveyed to wheat seed production. Farm-
enable farmers to use the new ers training sessions were very
practices accurately. A series brief, participatory and more of
of trainings was delivered on practical.
improved wheat technologies

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Key Messages
• Rain-fed based production of cereals cannot ensure food
security of Ethiopia and thus irrigated production is a
necessity rather than an option;
• Ethiopia has a huge potential of irrigable land in the
lowlands which needs to be harnessed through appropriate
use of technologies and enabling policy framework;
• Seed represents the first input required to enhance wheat
production. Thus, the challenge of wheat seed production
and delivery system should be tackled to ensure its availabili
ty, accessibility, affordability and sustainability;
• It is critically important to strengthen the capacity of
research centers catering for lowland irrigated agricul
ture; infrastructure (modern irrigation schemes) and
establish/ strengthen institutions (seed supply, machinery
services, market information, financial services, etc.) neces
sary to sustain and harmonize irrigated agriculture;
• Ethiopia needs to modernize its wheat production through
use of modern farm machineries in order to reduce drudgery
and enhance sustainable intensification, precision and
timeliness of farm operations;
• It is equally crucial to enhance participation of the private
sector through providing technical support and creating
conducive credit system for investment on farm machineries;
• Strengthening the interventions on promotion and
dissemination of available wheat technologies can bring
impacts on wheat productivity, area expansion and job
creation in Ethiopia;
• Role of women farmers in wheat production is increasing,
but continuous training and elevating their knowledge and
skill is crucial for sustainable wheat production in Ethiopia;
• Establish/strengthen a system linking producers with
input-output market along the value chain, involving the
youth, women and agricultural professionals.
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For Further information
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR)
Phone: +251116460380 / +251116462270
Fax: +251116461794 P.O. Box: 2003, Addis Ababa
Web: www.eiar.gov.et