Wheat Production and Breeding in Ethiopia: Retrospect and Prospects

Wheat Production and Breeding in Ethiopia: Retrospect and Prospects

ES评分 10

DOI 10.20900/cbgg20220003
刊名
CBGG
年,卷(期) 2022, 4(3)
作者
作者单位

International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Rabat 6299, Morocco ;
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Addis Ababa 2003, Ethiopia ;

Abstract
Wheat, cultivated on a total area of 2.1 million hectares annually with a total production of 6.7 million tons, is one of the most important food security crops in Ethiopia. However, there is a huge gap between wheat production and supply due to the increasing demand associated with the surge in urban population, change in food preferences such as bread, biscuits, pasta, noodles, and porridge which are easy and quick to prepare. To offset this gap, Ethiopia imports on average 1.2 million tons of wheat annually using its available meagre resources. Though there is enormous potential to increase Ethiopia’s wheat production both vertically and horizontally, it is still limited due to key challenges such as prevalence of biotic (yellow rust, stem rust, septoria, fusarium) and abiotic (acidity, heat, drought) stresses, yield gaps due to low adoption of new technologies, high cost and limited availability of inputs, low public and private investments, and poor infrastructure and marketing systems. Wheat breeding in Ethiopia is dominantly carried out by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) since 1960’s and recently with regional agricultural research institutes and universities in partnership mainly with the international agricultural research centers (CIMMYT and ICARDA) to develop high yielding, heat/drought tolerant and disease resistant wheat varieties with broad adaptation and acceptable end use qualities. To date, a total of 88 bread wheat varieties of CIMMYT and ICARDA origin have been released with continuous progress in yield (40 kg ha−1 year−1) ranging from 2 t/ha of variety Lakech in 1970 to 6.5 t/ha of the new variety ‘Abay’ released in 2021. This paper summarizes the status of wheat production under rainfed and irrigated environments, production constraints, wheat breeding progress, variety deployment efforts and future prospects in Ethiopia.
KeyWord
breeding; challenges; Ethiopia; production; wheat
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Wuletaw Tadesse*,Habte Zegeye,Tolesa Debele,Daniel Kassa,Wondwosen Shiferaw,Tafesse Solomon,Tamrat Negash,Negash Geleta,Zewdie Bishaw,Solomon Assefa. Wheat Production and Breeding in Ethiopia: Retrospect and Prospects, Crop Breeding, Genetics and Genomics. 2022; 4; (3). https://doi.org/10.20900/cbgg20220003.

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谢**华南农业****** 已认证✔

2025-09-23 06:58:30

This paper provides a comprehensive and well-structured review of wheat production and breeding in Ethiopia, highlighting both historical progress and future directions. It effectively synthesizes key challenges, such as biotic and abiotic stresses, yield gaps, and infrastructural limitations, while showcasing the significant achievements in varietal development and genetic gains. The integration of data, clear presentation of breeding strategies, and practical recommendations for sustainable expansion make it a valuable contribution to the field, with relevant implications for food security and agricultural policy in Ethiopia and similar contexts.

h**湖南长沙******

2025-09-17 04:00:55

此文总结了埃塞俄比亚旱作和灌溉环境下小麦生产的现状、生产约束、小麦育种进展、品种部署工作和未来前景,对农业部门现代化,提高生产力方面提供了重要的参考。

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