article · Agricultural Systems
Field trials across three districts in southern Ethiopia evaluated low-cost climate-smart agricultural technologies in mixed farming systems over two cropping seasons. Comparing five interventions against standard practices, the combination of seed priming and fertiliser micro-dosing at 0.5 grams per planting pocket delivered the highest gains in productivity and farm income. This practice increased maize grain yield by up to 45 percent over recommended practices. A modelled climate-smart farm incorporating this technique alongside multipurpose trees yielded three times more grain surplus and substantially more livestock fodder than conventional farms. The intervention met 84 percent of dry matter fodder needs and 60 percent of livestock crude protein requirements, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, integrating multipurpose trees raised total on-farm carbon stocks by 24 percent to approximately 29 megagrams per hectare.
Smallholder farmers often face trade-offs between boosting food yields, feeding livestock, and managing environmental impacts. Demonstrating that affordable practices such as seed priming and fertiliser micro-dosing can significantly raise grain and fodder outputs while cutting greenhouse gas emissions provides a viable pathway to improve rural livelihoods and build climate resilience without demanding expensive farm inputs.
This research provides applied and field-tested interventions suited for smallholder mixed farmers and agricultural extension programmes. By validating low-cost techniques such as fertiliser micro-dosing and seed priming, the work offers actionable practices that can be integrated into agronomic advisory services, input-distribution packages, and rural development initiatives. The tested technologies appear near-market and ready for wider adoption, though the abstract does not describe specific proprietary products or commercial business models.
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This study assessed the effects of various low-cost climate-smart agricultural (CSA) technologies on farm productivity, farm income and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in smallholder farming systems in southern Ethiopia. On-farm trials were conducted at three study sites/districts (Ziway, Halaba and Loka-Abaya) during the 2015 and 2016 cropping seasons. The experiment compared five climate smart treatments against existing recommended practice. Three farms were selected at each site. Each farm hosted one full experimental repetition, thus functioning as an experimental block. The average data of the two seasons were taken from each farm and means were calculated per site and over the study sites as well. The on-farm trails were established to identify a CSA technology that can improve yields and economic returns, while simultaneously reduce GHG emissions at the farm level. Averaged over the three sites, a combined application of seed priming with micro-dosing (0.5 g of fertilizer per pocket) was identified as the best-fit technology in terms of farm productivity and farm income. Results show that this technology increased maize grain yield by up to 45% (compared to the recommended practice). A model CSA farm was then created using this technology which was compared with the performance of the farmers' current system (conventional farm). It generated surplus production of both grain (more than three times higher) and fodder. The CSA farm produced 84% of dry matter fodder (DM) requirements and 60% of livestock crude protein (CP) needs respectively, while the conventional farm produced 30% DM and 48% of CP needs. Furthermore, the CSA farm demonstrated reduced GHG emissions compared to the conventional farm which grows maize without the use of mineral fertilizers. Our estimates indicate that due to the establishment of multipurpose trees on the CSA farm, the total on-farm C stock was about 29 Mg ha−1, that is 24% higher than the conventional farm. In conclusion, we recommend the combined application of seed priming and micro-dosing as a strategy for improving economic returns and an approach to enhance the sustainability of maize-based mixed systems in southern Ethiopia. Planting multipurpose trees will give additional benefits in terms of fodder and carbon sequestration.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102988
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