ESSP Research Note 33."Summary of Perceptions, impacts and rewards of row planting of teff " by Vandercasteelen, Joachim, Dereje, Mekdim, Minten, Bart, Seyoum Taffesse, Alemayehu
Summary of ESSP Working Paper 65. This study analyzes the perceptions, impacts, and rewards for teff farmers who were exposed to a row planting technology promotion campaign in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. There are three main findings: first, despite a positive attitude towards row planting (and reduced seed rates in general) and a belief in the (large) yield increasing potential of row planting, exposed farmers put a relatively small part of their plots aside for row planting in the next planting season. This suggests concerns with the additional labor requirement and possibly the need for more knowledge and experience with the new planting technique. Second, by adopting row planting, farmers experienced an increase in teff yield in the first year of implementation, but there was also a substantial increase in labor input requirements. A cost-benefit analysis shows that the increase in teff yield outweighs the cost of the extra labor in the first year of adoption. Third, suitable mechanization for row planting would change the cost-benefit picture significantly and suggests this may be an investment with high returns. Download the pdf.
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