Agriculture Sector Registers Tremendous Achievements: PM Office

Addis Ababa,   May 17/2021 (ENA)  Ethiopia has registered tremendous achievements in the agriculture sector over the last three years, according to the Office of the Prime Minister. 

In a statement it issued today, Office of the Prime Minister stated that the country has been witnessing encouraging achievements in irrigation development, crop productivity, job creation and agricultural mechanization among others.

According to the statement, since the 2011 EC fiscal year, 121,356 hectares of irrigation schemes (Individually and community -run) have been developed.

Some 1,496 hectares of irrigated fodder has also been developed to improve fodder supply especially in pastoral areas, it said.

Irrigation rigs and other inputs have been made tax-exempt at all levels and the inputs required for domestic production and assembly are equally tax-exempt to facilitate the supply of irrigation rig and other agricultural equipment and inputs from the smallest to the largest.

The Office further stated that some 10 crop varieties are being developed in four regions in a cluster approach on 3.2 million hectares of land to strengthen market-led agricultural development system.

In line with the growing demand of avocado in the world market, 34,271 hectares of land were cultivated in cluster farming and 264 nurseries were established and are operational to sustain avocado production, it added.

The statement said that summer wheat farming which was being piloted two years ago on 3,500 hectares of land is also expected to yield a harvest of up to 7 million quintal in the coming year.

Improved wheat production and productivity in the highlands is treated by intensification and treating acidification of wheat farms and 900,000 hectares of wheat has been cultivated during this period employing these techniques, which has increased the overall wheat productivity by 13.88 percent at a national level, it was stated.

Some 74,000 tons of rose and summer flowers were exported amounting 1.2 billion Birr in 2012/13 EC. Coffee productivity has also been increased from 6.19 to 7.5 quintals per hectares.

The total production of coffee has increased from 508,639 to 680,800 quintal by renovating 297,330 hectares of coffee grounds that stopped production due to ageing.

To improve veterinary health, coverage of vaccines based on risk has increased the past three years by 90 percent compared to the previous year.

Over the past three years, 254 primary and secondary shopping centers have been built and organized in various regions.

Some 4.2 million permanent and temporary jobs have been created in seven sectors for rural, educated and uneducated people and school leavers living in rural areas in the last three years.

Of the jobs created in the last three years, 61 percent are created in the agricultural sector, 21 percent in the industrial sector and 18 percent in the service sector.