Wheat yield gaps across smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia

Wheat yields in Ethiopia need to increase considerably to reduce import dependency and keep up with the expected increase in population and dietary changes. Despite the yield progress observed in recent years, wheat yield gaps remain large. Here, we decompose wheat yield gaps in Ethiopia into effici...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Silva, ‪João Vasco, Reidsma, Pytrik, Baudron, Frédéric, Jaleta, Moti, Tesfaye, Kindie, Ittersum, Martin K. van
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126445
_version_ 1855528179199901696
author Silva, ‪João Vasco
Reidsma, Pytrik
Baudron, Frédéric
Jaleta, Moti
Tesfaye, Kindie
Ittersum, Martin K. van
author_browse Baudron, Frédéric
Ittersum, Martin K. van
Jaleta, Moti
Reidsma, Pytrik
Silva, ‪João Vasco
Tesfaye, Kindie
author_facet Silva, ‪João Vasco
Reidsma, Pytrik
Baudron, Frédéric
Jaleta, Moti
Tesfaye, Kindie
Ittersum, Martin K. van
author_sort Silva, ‪João Vasco
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Wheat yields in Ethiopia need to increase considerably to reduce import dependency and keep up with the expected increase in population and dietary changes. Despite the yield progress observed in recent years, wheat yield gaps remain large. Here, we decompose wheat yield gaps in Ethiopia into efficiency, resource, and technology yield gaps and relate those yield gaps to broader farm(ing) systems aspects. To do so, stochastic frontier analysis was applied to a nationally representative panel dataset covering the Meher seasons of 2009 and 2013 and crop modelling was used to simulate the water-limited yield (Yw) in the same years. Farming systems analysis was conducted to describe crop area shares and the availability of land, labour, and capital in contrasting administrative zones. Wheat yield in farmers’ fields averaged 1.9 t ha− 1 corresponding to ca. 20% of Yw. Most of the yield gap was attributed to the technology yield gap (> 50% of Yw) but narrowing efficiency (ca. 10% of Yw) and resource yield gaps (ca. 15% of Yw) with current technologies can nearly double actual yields and contribute to achieve wheat self-sufficiency in Ethiopia. There were small differences in the relative contribution of the intermediate yield gaps to the overall yield gap across agro-ecological zones, administrative zones, and farming systems. At farm level, oxen ownership was positively associated with the wheat cultivated area in zones with relatively large cultivated areas per household (West Arsi and North Showa) while no relationship was found between oxen ownership and the amount of inputs used per hectare of wheat in the zones studied. This is the first thorough yield gap decomposition for wheat in Ethiopia and our results suggest government policies aiming to increase wheat production should prioritise accessibility and affordability of inputs and dissemination of technologies that allow for precise use of these inputs.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace126445
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
publishDateSort 2021
publisher Springer
publisherStr Springer
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1264452025-11-06T13:06:19Z Wheat yield gaps across smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia Silva, ‪João Vasco Reidsma, Pytrik Baudron, Frédéric Jaleta, Moti Tesfaye, Kindie Ittersum, Martin K. van wheat sustainable agriculture data stochastic models crop modelling self-sufficiency Wheat yields in Ethiopia need to increase considerably to reduce import dependency and keep up with the expected increase in population and dietary changes. Despite the yield progress observed in recent years, wheat yield gaps remain large. Here, we decompose wheat yield gaps in Ethiopia into efficiency, resource, and technology yield gaps and relate those yield gaps to broader farm(ing) systems aspects. To do so, stochastic frontier analysis was applied to a nationally representative panel dataset covering the Meher seasons of 2009 and 2013 and crop modelling was used to simulate the water-limited yield (Yw) in the same years. Farming systems analysis was conducted to describe crop area shares and the availability of land, labour, and capital in contrasting administrative zones. Wheat yield in farmers’ fields averaged 1.9 t ha− 1 corresponding to ca. 20% of Yw. Most of the yield gap was attributed to the technology yield gap (> 50% of Yw) but narrowing efficiency (ca. 10% of Yw) and resource yield gaps (ca. 15% of Yw) with current technologies can nearly double actual yields and contribute to achieve wheat self-sufficiency in Ethiopia. There were small differences in the relative contribution of the intermediate yield gaps to the overall yield gap across agro-ecological zones, administrative zones, and farming systems. At farm level, oxen ownership was positively associated with the wheat cultivated area in zones with relatively large cultivated areas per household (West Arsi and North Showa) while no relationship was found between oxen ownership and the amount of inputs used per hectare of wheat in the zones studied. This is the first thorough yield gap decomposition for wheat in Ethiopia and our results suggest government policies aiming to increase wheat production should prioritise accessibility and affordability of inputs and dissemination of technologies that allow for precise use of these inputs. 2021-02 2023-01-01T16:18:14Z 2023-01-01T16:18:14Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126445 en Open Access application/pdf Springer Silva, J. V., Reidsma, P., Baudron, F., Jaleta, M., Tesfaye, K., & van Ittersum, M. K. (2021). Wheat yield gaps across smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 41(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-020-00654-z
spellingShingle wheat
sustainable agriculture
data
stochastic models
crop modelling
self-sufficiency
Silva, ‪João Vasco
Reidsma, Pytrik
Baudron, Frédéric
Jaleta, Moti
Tesfaye, Kindie
Ittersum, Martin K. van
Wheat yield gaps across smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia
title Wheat yield gaps across smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia
title_full Wheat yield gaps across smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia
title_fullStr Wheat yield gaps across smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Wheat yield gaps across smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia
title_short Wheat yield gaps across smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia
title_sort wheat yield gaps across smallholder farming systems in ethiopia
topic wheat
sustainable agriculture
data
stochastic models
crop modelling
self-sufficiency
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126445
work_keys_str_mv AT silvajoaovasco wheatyieldgapsacrosssmallholderfarmingsystemsinethiopia
AT reidsmapytrik wheatyieldgapsacrosssmallholderfarmingsystemsinethiopia
AT baudronfrederic wheatyieldgapsacrosssmallholderfarmingsystemsinethiopia
AT jaletamoti wheatyieldgapsacrosssmallholderfarmingsystemsinethiopia
AT tesfayekindie wheatyieldgapsacrosssmallholderfarmingsystemsinethiopia
AT ittersummartinkvan wheatyieldgapsacrosssmallholderfarmingsystemsinethiopia