Identification of Major Crop Production Constraints and Technology Needs in H1 Agro-ecology of Alga PA in South Ari District of South Omo Zone

Abstract

The livelihood of over 93% of the people of Southern Nation Nationality and peoples Regional state of Ethiopia dependent on agriculture; however, agricultural system in the region is at subsistence level. Much effort has been put to produce or adapt agricultural technologies that would help to boost production and productivity but only few technologies adopt by the end users. Because, technologies might have not be driven from the real need of the end users. A top bottom approach that dominantly centered researchers/ professional attitudes has been fallowed. For the successful research and development, an agro-ecology based evaluation is crucial to know the specific farming system production practices and problems and technology needs of farmers and /or pastoralists. In this line, an assessment study was conducted in H1 agro-ecology of Alga PA in South Ari district of South Omo zone. The rain fall pattern is bimodal. Major crops grown in the area are Sorghum Maize, Common bean, finger millet, Cassava, Irish Potato, Sweet Potato, Taro, Banana, Coffee, and Peppers.