1. Tareke Berhe
Tareke.Berhe@ata.gov.et

2. FACT 1: PLANTS ARE LIVING THINGS
 They Feed
 They Drink
 They Breathe
 They Respond To Stimuli – They React

3. FACT 2: PLANTS RESPOND TO:
 Heat & Cold
 Light
 Plant Food in the Soil
 Available Moisture in the Soil
 Available Space for Each Plant

4. FACT 3: PLANTS RESPOND BY PRODUCING BIOMASS
KNOWN AS YIELD
• Yield = G x E + (G x E)
Where:
G = Genotype – inherited potential
E = Environment – favorable conditions
• Yield = G x E + (G x E) + Management
Where: Management = Intensification -- giving individual
plants more ample food, water, light and space to grow

5. FACT 4: ENVIRONMENT & MANAGEMENT MATTER
 In the efforts to increase the productivity of food crops,
size, number & time make a difference:
1. No. of Plants/Unit Area Matter
2. Size of Grain-Producing Heads Matter
3. When and What Management Operations are
Conducted Matter

6. EXAMPLE - MAIZE GRAIN YIELDS
PLANT
POPULATION
per hectare
100 150 200
20,000 2 TONS 3 TONS 4 TONS
40,000 4 TONS 6 TONS 8 TONS
60,000 6 TONS 9 TONS 12 TONS
Grain Weight/Cob ( grams)

7. TRANSPLANTING 15-DAY-OLD TEF SEEDLINGS,
DEBRE ZEIT 2009 – FIRST TRIALS

8. 10 DAYS AFTER TRANSPLANTING

9. 4 WEEKS AFTER TRANSPLANTING

10. 8 WEEKS AFTER TRANSPLANTING : INCREASED LEAF
SIZE AND COLOR = HIGH BIOMASS PRODUCTION

11. TEF HEADS HEAVY WITH SEED

12. HIGH GRAIN & STRAW YIELDS, 2009
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
2000
2927
3540
4250
4526
6260
6631
Fig 1. Yield (kg/ha) for variety
Dz-01-974 at 20x15 cm spacing
& different fertilizer types
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
9000
12621
14865
17507
18395
23598
25832
Fig 1. Straw yield (kg/ha) for
variety Dz-01-974 at 20x15 cm
spacing & different fertilizer
treatments

13. ROW PLANTING TO REPLACE TRANSPLANTING,
MAINTAINING WIDE SPACING BUT REDUCING LABOR

14. TEF PACKAGE AVERAGE YIELDS BY REGION AND BY PLANTING METHOD, 2012
Average yield increase of ~70% over the national average (167,000 Farmers)
Average yield by planting method
Quintals/hectare
• Data were collected from
~15,800 validating
farmers (and some
control farmer groups) to
determine the results of
new tef technologies
• For the 15,790 farmers,
average yields for row
planting + transplanting
increased ~70% from
national average (21.7
versus 12.6 qtls/ha)
• As the chart shows, there
is still much work to be
done to properly manage
transplanting to realize
potential yield gains
Source: 2012 Data from Regional, Zonal and Woreda administration staff (collected Feb-April 2013)
17
12
16
21222122
18
20
2323
Amhara SNNPOromia Tigray
N/A
Broadcasting
Row planting
Transplanting

15. AVERAGE GRAIN YIELD BY PLANTING METHOD, 2012,
WITH DIFFERENT SEEDING RATES (30 to 0.4 kg/ha)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
30 BC 5 BC 5 Row 0.4 TP
GRAIN YIELD (tn)

16. THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES HAVE IMPRESSIVE RESULTS
2012 MAXIMUM YIELDS OBTAINED BY PLANTING
METHOD
Yield by technology use*
Quintals per hectare
60
50
Transplanting +
Fertilizer blends
35-66
Transplanting
Row planting
National average 12-15
Traditional on-farm production
methods (e.g., broadcasting, 30 kg/ha
seed rate)
New row planting technology with
reduced seed rate (5-10 kg/ha)
New transplanting technology
Transplanting technology combined
with fertilizers with micronutrients
* Yields are average yield for National Average and maximum yield for Row planting, Transplanting, and Fertilizer
blends Source: Field visits, Sasakawa Global research, ATA Tef Program team analysis

17. DISTRIBUTION OF YIELD INCREASES BY PERCENT, 2012
Source: 2012 Data from Regional, Zonal and Woreda administration staff (collected Feb-April 2013)
Distribution of Validating Farmers’ Yields
Frequency of yield band (as % of total data set)
4
7
6
8
10
8
13
11
7
Over
200%
150 -
200%
125 -
150%
100 -
125%
80 -
100%
60 - 80%40 - 60%20 - 40%10 - 20%Less
than 10%
27
~30% of farmers saw a
20 – 80% yield increase
Farmers who broadcast, used high seed rates, or
experienced challenges with new technologies
~25% of farmers saw a 100 –
200% yield increase

18. STI HAS SHOWED THAT WITH PROPER MANAGEMENT,
HIGH TEF YIELDS ARE POSSIBLE