Ministry Launches Pump and Engine Testing Center

Ena January 24/2020 A National Pump and Engine Testing Center that enables to testify and certify locally produced and imported small scale irrigation pumps and engines officially launched today.

Founded by the Ministry of Agriculture and built with an outlay over 19.13 million birr, the center is jointly financed by The Netherlands and Canada.

Agriculture State Minister, Kaba Urgessa officially launched the center and handed over to the Director-General of Ethiopian Conformity Assessment Enterprise (ECAE), Teshale Belihu.

On the occasion, Kaba said ensuring the quality of pumps and engines is crucial to increase agricultural productivity of small scale irrigation.

About 20 percent of the imports are dysfunctional and the wasted cost is huge, he said adding that “We need to test and certify the standards of locally produced and imported pumps and engines for small scale irrigation.”

ECAE Director-General, Teshale Belihu, on the occasion said the center helps to ensure quality of pumps and engines, which are desired by large segment of small plot farmers for irrigational scheme.

The Growth and Transformation Plan two (GTP II) targets 80 percent of small holder farmers to have at least one source of water for irrigation.

In Ethiopia around 1 million farmers are engaged in small scale irrigated agriculture, where about 210-400 thousand of them use motor pumps, of which up to 20 percent of the estimated motorized imports are dysfunctional, it was indicated.

More than 482, 000 different types of pumps were imported between 2004 and 2010 alone, and pump import increased by 15 percent between 2006 and 2016, which has brought a 10 million increase in price, it was learned.