Technical efficiency and yield gap of smallholder wheat producers in Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis

Mamo, Tekalign; Getahun, Wudineh; Chebil, Ali; Tesfaye, Agajie; Debele, Tolessa; Assefa, Solomon; Solomon, Tesfaye

doi:10.5897/ajar2016.12050

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This agrees with a report by Tadele et al. (2018) in Ethiopia. The study revealed that income from farm activities significantly and negatively influences major crops, wheat, and teff production inefficiency.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 94%

“…Secondly, households with a greater number of livestock holding may easily supply oxen draught power for plowing and threshing as a source of labor, and organic fertilizer mainly from their excreta. This agrees with a report by Tadele et al (2018) in Ethiopia. The study revealed that income from farm activities significantly and negatively influences major crops, wheat, and teff production ineffi- ciency.…”

Section: Climate Change Adaptation Practices and Crop Production Inef...supporting

confidence: 93%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptation practices contribute to crop production efficiency in southern Ethiopia

Sedebo

Abebe

et al. 2021

Agronomy Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate-smart practices that have added benefits of improving agricultural productivity are an imperative for improving smallholder farming. However, there are few insights into how smallholder climate-smart adaptation practices influence their technical (in)efficiency. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of smallholders' climate-smart adaptation practices on their crop production technical efficiency (TE) in the Lemo district of southern Ethiopia. We used focus group discussion, experts' consultations and household survey to collect data from 600 smallholder crop producers across six rural kebeles. We computed smallholder farmers' climate change adaptation indices based on experts' consultations and estimated the TE of the smallholder farmers using Stochastic Frontier Analysis. The smallholder farmers in the Lemo district have adopted climate-smart agricultural practices such as terracing, crop diversification, improved soil amendment practices, varying planting or harvesting schedules, and crop rotation. The smallholder farm households practicing more adaptation strategies on a larger scale were more technically efficient than their counterparts with their TE averaging 11.31, 8.62, and 6.71% for major crops, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and teff [Eragrostis tef) (Zucc.) Trotter] production, respectively. Our model also revealed that adaptation to climate change has a positive and significant contribution to the technical efficiency of major crops, wheat, and teff production. Other key determinants of TE are farming experience, education, access to extension services, livestock holdings, and farm household income.Overall, our study suggests a policy shift to promote smallholder farmers adaptation to climate change using climate-smart practices for an effective response to climate change impact while enhancing TE.

show abstract

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 94%

Section: Climate Change Adaptation Practices and Crop Production Inef...supporting

confidence: 93%

Smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptation practices contribute to crop production efficiency in southern Ethiopia

Sedebo

Abebe

et al. 2021

Agronomy Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Waterlogging-induced partial stomatal closure could constrain internal CO 2 levels and limit carbon fixation (Malik et al, 2001; Striker et al, 2005), but this variable has rarely been quantified (e.g., in wheat, Wu et al, 2014; in rapeseed, Leul and Zhou, 1998). Apart from stomatal limitations, photosynthesis rates can also be determined by non-stomatal factors, such as mesophyll conductance (Jones, 1985; Flexas and Medrano, 2002), damage to photosystem II (PSII) caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Nishiyama et al, 2006; Ashraf, 2012), and leaf chlorosis related to chlorophyll degradation due to an accelerated leaf senescence (Hörtensteiner, 2006; Araki et al, 2012). Although there are reports regarding the impact of waterlogging on carbon fixation of the winter crops in this study (e.g., Huang et al, 1994 for wheat; Pang et al, 2004 for barley; Leul and Zhou, 1998 for rapeseed, and Malik et al, 2015 for field pea), comparisons between these species are scarce (see de San Celedonio et al, 2017 for wheat and barley).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waterlogging of Winter Crops at Early and Late Stages: Impacts on Leaf Physiology, Growth and Yield

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Waterlogging is expected to increase as a consequence of global climate change, constraining crop production in various parts of the world. This study assessed tolerance to 14-days of early- or late-stage waterlogging of the major winter crops wheat, barley, rapeseed and field pea. Aerenchyma formation in adventitious roots, leaf physiological parameters (net photosynthesis, stomatal and mesophyll conductances, chlorophyll fluorescence), shoot and root growth during and after waterlogging, and seed production were evaluated. Wheat produced adventitious roots with 20–22% of aerenchyma, photosynthesis was maintained during waterlogging, and seed production was 86 and 71% of controls for early- and late-waterlogging events. In barley and rapeseed, plants were less affected by early- than by late-waterlogging. Barley adventitious roots contained 19% aerenchyma, whereas rapeseed did not form aerenchyma. In barley, photosynthesis was reduced during early-waterlogging mainly by stomatal limitations, and by non-stomatal constraints (lower mesophyll conductance and damage to photosynthetic apparatus as revealed by chlorophyll fluorescence) during late-waterlogging. In rapeseed, photosynthesis was mostly reduced by non-stomatal limitations during early- and late-waterlogging, which also impacted shoot and root growth. Early-waterlogged plants of both barley and rapeseed were able to recover in growth upon drainage, and seed production reached ca. 79–85% of the controls, while late-waterlogged plants only attained 26–32% in seed production. Field pea showed no ability to develop root aerenchyma when waterlogged, and its photosynthesis (and stomatal and mesophyll conductances) was rapidly decreased by the stress. Consequently, waterlogging drastically reduced field pea seed production to 6% of controls both at early- and late-stages with plants being unable to resume growth upon drainage. In conclusion, wheat generates a set of adaptive responses to withstand 14 days of waterlogging, barley and rapeseed can still produce significant yield if transiently waterlogged during early plant stages but are more adversely impacted at the late stage, and field pea is not suitable for areas prone to waterlogging events of 14 days at either growth stage.

show abstract

Sources of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seed in northwest Ethiopia

Yitayew

Sisay²,

Ayalew

2023

Discov Sustain

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Smallholder farmers in Ethiopia are involved in multiple seed sources to access bread wheat seed. The present study was conducted in Baso Liben district, northwest Ethiopia, with the objectives of identifying the existing seed sources, factors affecting the use of improved bread wheat seed, and assessing practitioners’ (farmers and experts) suggestions to improve the existing bread wheat seed sources. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 108 farmers and five local experts using semi-structured questionnaires and focus group discussions. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a line-by-line examination of the transcripts of the FGDs. Results revealed that both formal and informal seed sources are available in the study area where farmers can access bread wheat seed. 41.5% of farmers utilized farm-saved seeds from the previous cropping season. The rest was accessed from neighboring farmers (11.4%), relatives (7.5%), and formal seed suppliers (39.6%). Yield advantage, disease tolerance, market value, and food quality were found to be the most common criteria in making the decision to use improved bread wheat varieties. The study confirms that both formal and informal seed sources are important in improving seed access to farmers. Hence, the importance of informal seed sources should be well-considered in policy development. Moreover, the government and development partners need to develop a mechanism to integrate both the formal and informal seed systems to improve seed availability.

show abstract

Technical efficiency and yield gap of smallholder wheat producers in Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis

Cited by 10 publications

References 16 publications

Smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptation practices contribute to crop production efficiency in southern Ethiopia

Smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptation practices contribute to crop production efficiency in southern Ethiopia

Waterlogging of Winter Crops at Early and Late Stages: Impacts on Leaf Physiology, Growth and Yield

Sources of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seed in northwest Ethiopia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About