farmland |
Agriculture and
Natural Resources Ministry announced that over 90 percent of the
cultivated land in the country has been covered by various crops. It
also stated that it has been exerting efforts to overcome El Niño
related challenges.
The Ministry Crop
Development Acting Director Esayas Lema told The Ethiopian Herald that
agricultural production and productivity have been growing by six
percent for many consecutive years. For instance, during the last
harvest season, the nation managed to gain bumper crop of twenty million
quintals.
He further said
such plentiful harvest had been secured due to farmers' increased inputs
utilization, continuous natural resource management, among other
agricultural activities.
Aside from
utilizing various soil fertility methods, the government's right
policies and strategies in the agriculture sector have been immensely
contributing to the growth.
According to
Esayas, as part of GTP II, the country has planned to harvest crops of
345 million quintals in the next harvest season. "We have supplied and
distributed enough amounts of agricultural inputs, offered capacity
building and various trainings on irrigation schemes."
Moreover, the ministry distributed about 1.3 million metric tons of fertilizers to the farmers.
The rainy season has been promising and ample selected seeds have been also made ready, he said.
He also noted that
the ministry has given due emphasis on the annual natural resource
conservation activities and Belg season agricultural duties so as to
register sustainable production and productivity.
"We are working hard to achieve nation's agriculture sector GTP II targets.
To overcome El Niño
and related consequences, the Ministry has implemented various drought
resistant strategies; specially underlining expanding research conducts
throughout the country's agro-ecologies to release drought resistant
crop varieties.
Previously, drought
was occurred within ten years interval. But now it occurs even in two
years intervals. But, although its magnitude differs, El Niño case
symptom has been manifested this year too, he said.
He further said
that natural conservation activities are not only enable farmers getting
forest products but they also enabled to keep soil fertility, increase
ground water potential and decrease climate change occurrence frequency.
Currently such activities have successfully bore fruits. Farmers enable
to get water from nearby distances. Thus, when February approaches,
every farmer is readied to take part in natural conservation activities.
But as the
Ethiopian agriculture depends on rain, the need to use alternative
irrigation schemes has no option. Thus, ministry has stressed in scaling
up ground water potentials to enable farmers using wheel water and
expand small scale irrigation schemes. But as big irrigation schemes
demand huge investment, they are constructed by the Ministry of Water,
Irrigation and Electricity, he said.
The country sets to produce 500 million quintals by the end of GTP II.
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