Soil Health Restoring Efforts Improving Crop Productivity: Director

Addis Ababa, October 8, 2026 (ENA) —Restoring soil fertility and health through targeted soil-management practices has contributed to improved farmers’ yields and productivity, Director of Crop Research at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) Fekadu Gurmu said.

The Director made the remarks during a field demonstration visit organized as part of the Korea Partnership for Innovation of Agriculture (KOPIA) and Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) Soil Health Project in Bishoftu, Oromia.

Fekadu said soils become unhealthy when they lose essential nutrients, become acidic or saline, or retain excess water that prevents crops from developing properly.

To address these conditions, soil-management efforts include managing heavy black soils affected by waterlogging and treating acidic soils through different soil amendment techniques, he said.

The efforts also promote organic soil enrichers such as compost and vermicompost alongside inorganic fertilizers and bio-fertilizers to restore soil fertility and support crop production, according to the Director.

According to Fekadu, the soil-health work is being implemented through a new three-year initiative jointly undertaken by KOPIA and EIAR, building on previous agricultural cooperation between Ethiopia and Korea.

Fekadu said the cooperation has previously covered crop cultivation and variety improvement, including potatoes, fruits and vegetables, as well as poultry farming.

 

Meanwhile, KOPIA Ethiopia Center Director Song Yong-sup said sustainable crop production requires integrated management of soil, water, nutrients, crops and livestock rather than relying on a single intervention.

He said the three-year initiative will next apply an integrated approach to soil health restoration, including building organic matter in the soil, applying drainage technologies, expanding the use of organic fertilizers and cultivating forage crops to link livestock feed supply with crop productivity.

The director also said the project is working with the Bishoftu Agricultural Research Center under EIAR and extension experts to bring research results directly to farmers.

 

He said field demonstrations are testing integrated soil fertility management, biofertilizers, Vertisol management and irrigation water management under local production conditions.

Song said farmers’ feedback is essential to assessing whether the technologies are effective, economically feasible and practical for wider adoption. Continued field validation is also needed to assess their performance over successive seasons, he added.