Faba bean is an important pulse crop in area coverage and volume of annual production in Ethiopia. However, the productivity is still far below its potential mainly due to the emerging faba bean gall disease. This study, therefore, aimed to evaluate and demonstrate the integrated disease management options of using a combination of Noble 25 WP fungicide and moderately disease-resistant varieties. The treatment arrangement was designed as an un-replicated simple block considering farmers as replications. Foliar application of Noble 25 WP fungicide was used at a rate of 1 kg ha −1 using 400 l ha −1 water. The agronomic, economic, and farmer preference data were collected and analyzed in descriptive statistics. The result revealed that the highest grain yield of 3.96 tons ha −1 was obtained from a sprayed plot of Gora variety and had an overall yield advantage of 130.8% over farmers' unsprayed local variety under the existing practice. Besides, the highest final faba bean gall disease percent severity of 45.6% was recorded from the unsprayed control plots. Using a combination of Gora improved variety with foliar application of the fungicide reduced the severity of the disease by 59.3% compared with that of the sprayed local variety. Similarly based on the partial budget analysis result, the highest (783.8%) marginal rate of return was obtained from the use of Yehuala Kassa ABOUT THE AUTHOR Yehuala Kassa is an Agricultural extension and Socioeconomics researcher in Debre Birhan Agricultural Research Center, Amhara Agricultural Research Institute, Ethiopia. He obtained his BSc degree in the field of Rural Development and Family Science from Hawassa University in July 2011. He then received his MSc degree in the field of Rural Development Management from Bahir Dar University in March 2019. His research interest mainly focuses on agricultural extension, technology promotion, and agricultural value chain and technology adoption studies. Previously he has published the

Background Faba bean (Vicia faba. L) is the most important pulse crop both in area coverage and volume of annual production in Ethiopia. However, productivity in terms of yield in Ethiopia is still far below its potential. One important reason is that farmers are largely dependent on their local landraces. Despite the release of about 34 improved faba bean cultivars, farmers’ use of certified improved seeds is very low. This study, therefore, aimed to generate useful information on farmers’ adoption of improved faba bean cultivars by identifying factors that determine a farmer’s decision to use improved cultivars. Methods A multi-stage sampling technique was followed to select sample households. A cross-sectional household survey was used to collect data from 168 households that were randomly selected. Moreover, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were conducted. For data analysis, the Double-hurdle econometric model was employed. Results The results revealed that the majority, i.e., 77% of rural households depended on their local landraces. The adoption rate of improved faba bean seed at the household level was 23% which is very low. This low adoption rate was mainly due to a lack of access to improved seed and a lack of awareness about the improved cultivars. The results suggest that the decisions to adopt the improved cultivars and how much land to be covered appear to be explained by different processes. The double-hurdle econometric model result further revealed that while a farmer’s adoption decision is influenced by family size, farmers’ awareness about the existing improved cultivars, and extension contact, the intensity of adoption is determined by livestock holding and access to market information. Conclusion The result showed that most of the rural households were largely dependent on their local faba bean landraces which result in low yields at harvest. Therefore, it is suggested that the promotion of improved faba bean cultivars and improve farmers’ access to extension service and timely market information are the most decisive factors to be emphasized to improve the adoption of improved cultivars.

The study was conducted in four selected potential areas of North Shewa zone namely; Kewot, Efratana gidim, Ensaro and Merhabete district. The main objective of the study was to evaluate, select the best performing mungbean varieties and to assess farmer's technology preference. The experiment was done using three improved varieties namely; Rasa (N-26), NLV-1, and Arkebe improved varieties and local variety as a check. The analytical result showed that Rasa (N-26) variety was preferred by the farmers followed by NLV-1. The result gotten from the analysis of variance indicated that the difference among the means of the mungbean varieties for grain yield, pod length and hundred seed weight are significant at 5% probability level for both locations. The highest yield (1541.3 kg/ha) was recorded from Rasa (N-26) variety at Jema valley followed by the local variety (1243.3 kg/ha), while the lowest yield (735.7 and 676.3 kg/ha) was obtained from the varieties NLV-1 and Arkebe, respectively. The partial budget analysis result also revealed that only Rasa (N-26) had the highest net benefit return compared to the local variety. The marginal rate of return for changing from using local variety to improved Rasa (N-26) variety was 1074%. Therefore pre-scaling up of Rasa (N-26) variety with its improved management practice should be done.

No abstract

Pulse crops are important components of crop production in Ethiopia's smallholders’ agriculture, providing an economic advantage to small farm holdings as an alternative source of protein, cash income, and food security. Mung bean is one of the most important cash crops in the low land of the North Shewa zone. This research was, therefore, initiated to provide an insight of scaling up of Rasa (N-26) mung bean variety and documenting best approaches to maximize production and productivity of the crop through improving the availability of improved varieties to farmers. The activities were done in the low lands of North Shewa areas of Efiratana gidim, Kewot, Shewarobit, Ensaro, and Merhabetie districts, under main growing season for two consecutive years (2016 – 2017) using Rasa variety. About 54 ha of land were covered through disseminating 2.17tons seed and a total of 203 (including 2 female farmers) farmers participated and directly benefited during the dissemination of mung bean variety. The productivity of mung bean in the area was boosted to 1.6 tons ha-1 and a yield advantage of 45.5% was obtained from improved varieties compared to the local cultivar. The introduction of the improved variety Rasa (N-26) which has a large seed size, high biomass, and grain yield attracts the attention of farmers, experts, and local traders. Developing and verifying pesticides, technical backstopping and supplying of early generation seed, and also introducing post-harvest storage materials is very crucial for sustained production and productivity improvement of the crop.