Oromia Region Expecting 105 Million Quintals of Wheat from Summer Irrigated Land

Addis Ababa March 12/2024 (ENA) Ethiopia's Oromia region announced that it is expecting to harvest over 105 million quintals of wheat from its summer irrigated land. 

Crop Development Director at the Oromia Agriculture Bureau, Mustefa Hussein, stated that the 2.6 million hectares initially planned to be cultivating during the summer season has been  surpassed by over 1 million hectares across the region's 21 zones.

The director expressed optimism about the development, stating that "the progress in all zones is encouraging, and we anticipate exceptional results." 

He confidently predicted that this year's irrigated wheat production in the region would exceed 105 million quintals.

Currently, farmers are actively harvesting the crop with the aid of modern agricultural equipment and the average yield per hectare stands at 45 quintals with some high-yielding areas achieving over 60 quintals per hectare.

As the wheat fields are being cleared, farmers are cultivating onions, tomatoes, potatoes, and other fruit and vegetable crops, maintaining soil fertility and enabling a three-crop rotation system annually, Mustefa elaborated.