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Strategies to Increase Rainfed Maize Production in the Upper Omo-Gibe Basin, Ethiopia

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Agricultural production plays a vital role in the global economy, which is also true in the upper Omo-Gibe basin (UOGB) of Ethiopia. Because of its high percentage contribution to the country's GDP, it figured prominently in job creation and its political, economic, and social stability. Additionally, agricultural production can be increased by increasing crop water productivity and improving agricultural management. Thus, this research aims to develop strategies for increasing the production of maize crops in the water-scarce Omo-gibe basin of Ethiopia. Crop production function analysis and its planting can be studied for the rainfed maize area as a function of the amount of seeds, fertilizers, and water utilized to evaluate crop yield in the study area. To enhance crop productivity in the basin, a total of 30,287.17 ha of suitable pastoral land in the three slope classes has been converted to a rainfed maize area. Furthermore, two strategies in the three land-use conditions are identified to meet the expected 2030 UOGB rainfed maize production target and are assessed based on yield gap increases of one-fourth, two-fourth, and three-fourth. In the first strategy, increasing yield gaps by one-fourth, two-fourths, and three-fourths contributes 23.12, 46.23, and 69.35%, respectively, of the total targeted production in the basin's current rainfed maize area, whereas in the second strategy, increased production for additional suitable land contributed 0.80, 0.39% and 0.68%, 1.61, 0.79 and 1.36, and 2.41, 1.18, and 2.04% of the planned target production in the same order.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Central Statistics Agency of Ethiopia (CSA) for their generous hospitality and support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Water Resources and Ocean Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, Mangalore, 575 025, India

    Mudesir Nesru, Amba Shetty & M. K. Nagaraj

  2. Department of Hydraulic and Water Resource Engineering Wolaita, Sodo University, P.O. Box 138, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia

    Mudesir Nesru

Authors
  1. Mudesir Nesru
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  2. Amba Shetty
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  3. M. K. Nagaraj
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Correspondence to Mudesir Nesru.

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Significance of the study: The government and development agencies have tried to encourage farmers to adopt water harvesting techniques and irrigation; however, those technologies did not perform up to the expectations. Much effort had taken to increase food production and sustainable resource use. However, population growth had put pressure on limited resources (water, soil, etc.). The study area has a high population density, and food production is limited to a small plot of land, and produce once a year. Due to climate change, the amount, frequency, and timing of rainfall are seriously unpredictable. Most of the time, a dry spell is frequent and fails in crop production. As a result, agricultural crop production decreases from time to time, the population of the area faces a shortage of food, inadequate domestic water supply, and even the animals getting highly affected/ starved due to forage's inadequacy.

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Nesru, M., Shetty, A. & Nagaraj, M.K. Strategies to Increase Rainfed Maize Production in the Upper Omo-Gibe Basin, Ethiopia. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. B Biol. Sci. 92, 637–646 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-022-01352-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-022-01352-4

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