Participatory assessment of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) production practices in marginal dry lands of Wag-lasta, Ethiopia

Abstract

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is an important legume for human nutrition, animal feeding and soil fertility enhancement in Wag-lasta areas of Ethiopia. Despite its importance, concerned actors in the extension system have inconsistencies on the efficient production practices. The participatory assessment of different lentil production practices was thus carried out involving twenty-three farmers in the marginal dry lands of Wag-lasta area. The experiment was designed to evaluate and demonstrate the performance of different lentil production practices to farmers and extension personnel to settle the paradox in the extension system. It was directed through comparing the improved variety with its full production package (IPP) against the local variety with full package (LPP) and local variety under farmers' practice (LFP). Agronomic, economic and preference data were collected and analysed in descriptive statistic, ANOVA, partial budgeting and weighted ranking matrix. The combined result indicated that LPP, LFP and IPP provided mean grain yields of 806, 584 and 486 kg ha-1 , respectively. Accordingly, LPP has 27.5 and 39.7% yield advantage over LFP and IPP, respectively. The marginal rate of return of LPP is 334.9 and 411% in Sekota and Lalibela districts in that order. The overall weighted ranking matrix also shows that LFP and LPP were farmers' first and second choices in Sekota but vice versa in Lalibela district. Farmers and experts in the extension system thus perceived and approved the prominence of local cultivar under full package practice. Therefore, large-scale dissemination of the local cultivar with its full package components is safely recommended.

Evaluation of Improved Faba Bean Technology in The Wider-Scale: Lesson from Stakeholders‘ Participation in Wag-Lasta, Ethiopia

“…It has annual mean rainfall and temperature of 774.2 mm and 28.5°C, respectively. The dominant soil type of the district is loam and clay soil (Mihiretu et al, 2019). Lasta district on the other hand, located at altitude of 2400 meters above sea level with the annual rainfall of 895.2 mm and average temperature of 26.2°C.…”

“…The yield advantage that quantifies the change between improved technology and local practice was calculated using the following formula (1). The technological and extension gaps as well as technological index were also calculated using the formula (2), ( 3) and (4) provided below (Mihiretu et al, 2019). (1)…”

Efficiency of some common treatments on infestation level with wax moths, colony strength and honey yield in Northeast Ethiopia: Participatory and comparative analysis

“…The later was to test the statistical differences at 5% significance level, followed by post hoc (LSD) analysis to compare the mean separations. Hence, significant differences between treatments were assigned with different letters (a, b, and c).The net benefit, gross return, total variable cost, marginal cost and marginal net benefits were calculated accordingly from the collected economic data (Mihiretu et al, 2019b). The marginal rate of return (MRR) of one treatment to the other was also calculated using the following formula:…”

“…In Sekota, beekeeping is an integral part of livestock-based livelihood system (Mihiretu & Abebaw, 2020). Sekota woreda is found at 12°68ʹ35ʹ' N and 39.01ʹ41ʹ' E latitude and longitude with an altitude range of 2000-2300 m above sea level (Mihiretu et al, 2019b). The annual minimum and maximum temperature of the area is 26.6°C and 31.6°C, respectively (Mihiretu & Assefa, 2019).…”

Participatory Evaluation and Promotion of Improved Bread Wheat Technology in the Dry lands of Wag-lasta, Ethiopia: Challenges and Prospects

“…The quantitative data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics (viz., percentage, mean and standard deviation). Paired sample t-test was used to observe the yield significance between the improved technology and local practice (Mihiretu et al, 2019a). Likewise, the benefit-cost ratio analysis was used to analyse the comparative advantage of improved technology over the local practice.…”