Faba bean yield gaps, varietal adoption and seed use in Ethiopia

Abstract

The paper presents the varietal adoption and seed use of faba bean based on primary data collected from 370 faba bean producing farmers covering 19 districts in 13 major faba bean growing zones of Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR and Tigray regions. The adoption rate at household level indicate that 25.9% of the farmers are full adopters, 1.6% partial adopters and the remaining 72.4% were non-adopters based on plot level use of improved varieties. This has partly resulted in the productivity gaps between research estimated at 3.6 ton/ha, adopters (3.2 ton/ha) and national level (1.8 ton/ha). The current status calls for the need to strengthen the promotion of available improved varieties and for enhanced engagement of the formal seed system in faba bean to ensure better adoption.