04/06/2022
The Agricultural growth program(AGP) project, which was launched by the South Agricultural Research Institute will benefit the farmers in their agricultural practices, said the Program Coordinator.
The Agricultural Growth Program Research Coordinator, Mr. Otoro Olke Teko, said the Southern Agricultural Research Institute is identifying problems that are hampering the production and productivity of farmers.
The main objective of the agricultural project is to identify the problems that hinder the production and productivity of the farmers and to conduct research to solve the problem. There are diseases in the crop sector, especially those related to climate change in the world, and work has been done to adapt and develop technologies to make those species more resistant to these diseases.
Other soil and water conservation measures have been taken to prevent climate-related erosion. Soils in the southern region have a high acidity of more than 40%. Since most of the soils in these areas are acidic, researches have been done to treat acidic soils.
In addition to these, successful projects have been led to improve livestock production and improve cluster based crop production by mobilizing farmers.
In terms of the livestock sector, breed improvement researches on sheep and goats have been conducted by selecting best performing indigenous species and benefiting the pastoralists from the best for meat production. For example, in Dawro zone there has been organized at least seven cooperatives. In addition to this, there are four cooperatives in Jinka research center for pastoralists.
Another great achievement the project is of 50-100 hectares of land was cultivated by teff, wheat and maize for farmers.
Dr. Yayis Rezene, Senior Researcher and Program Coordinator of the Biotechnology Research Department at the Southern Agricultural Research Institute, said that they are working together with the project to create different agricultural technologies for the benefit of the farmers. Dr. Yayis Rezene said, We are still in the process of developing a number of technologies. Nowadays, biotechnology is being used to produce disease-tolerant crop species and to demonstrate them after they are released.
