The Eleventh Regional Wheat Workshop For Eastern ... - Cimmyt

A study o/the adoption o/bread wheat production technologies in Arsi Zone - Setotaw et a/.
0.693 million ha ofland, revealing a low mean national yield of 1.2 tlha (CSA, 1995b), and
accounting for 14% and 13% of total cereal production and cultivated area, respectively. The
apparent low productivity can be attributed to several factors (Tanner et al., 1993) including:
limited adoption of high-yielding varieties, fertilizer and other modern inputs, slow progress
in developing wheat cultivars with durable resistance to diseases, and depleted soil fertility.
The existing low levels of wheat production and productivity cannot meet the growing
demand for food due to a rapidly increasing population in conjunction with changing
consumption patterns. As a result, the level of wheat self-sufficiency at the national level in
Ethiopia is estimated at only 55%, necessitating importation to fill the gap (Tanner and
Mwangi, 1992). A significant improvement in wheat production can be realized by raising
yields per unit area through the intensive application of improved wheat production
technologies. Such intensification should encourage the correct utilization of existing
technologies and/or the adoption of new ones.
Arsi Zone hosted a long-term comprehensive integrated rural development project (i.e.,
CADUIARDU) beginning in 1967. Since that time, additional agricultural research and
development activities have been implemented in the region, benefiting local farmers through
the dissemination of improved agricultural technologies. Different adoption studies have been
conducted in Arsi Zone to assess the level of and factors influencing technology adoption
(Aregay, 1980; Mulugetta, 1995). One limitation of adoption studies is that the results relate
to a specific base year whereas constraints and opportunities are dynamic and vary from year
to year. Generating the latest information, therefore, will keep stakeholder groups aware of
the acceptance and performance of the existing and/or new research outputs on farmers'
fields. This study was conducted in Arsi Zone with the main objective of examining the
socio-economic factors that influence the adoption of selected wheat production
technologies. The specific objectives of the study were:
1. to assess and quantify the extent of adoption of improved bread wheat production
technologies; and
2. to identify factors influencing the adoption of improved bread wheat production
technologies.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The Study Area
The five surveyed woredas are located in Arsi Zone in south-eastern Ethiopia, with elevations
ranging from 1980 to 3760 m a.s.l. Arsi Zone is characterized by a cereal-dominated farming
system in which bread wheat and barley are the major crops. In the 1994/95 cropping season,
cereals accounted for 80% of the total cultivated land in the region (CSA, 1995a): according
to the same survey, wheat (28%) and barley (22%) comprised 50% of the total cropped area.
Sampling Method and Data Analysis
The survey was conducted in the five major wheat-producing woredas of Arsi Zone: Asasa,
Bekoji, Etheya, Lole, and Robe. Within each of the five woredas, Peasant Associations (PAs)
which had been intensively served by technology dissemination agents for many years were
selected, while farmers were randomly selected from within the selected PAs. A sample of 60
farmers was taken from each woreda; thus, a total sample comprising 300 small-holder
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