MODELING FACTORS INFLUENCING BARLEY YIELD IN ETHIOPIA: AUGMENTED COBB-DOUGLAS PRODUCTION APPROACH

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the climate and non-climatic inputs influencing barley yield in Ethiopia. The study employed an augmented Cobb-Douglas production functional approach to model factors influencing barley yield. The results revealed that short-season rainfall and temperature variables showed a positive relationship with barley yield, having minimal impact on barley yield. Conversely, long-season rainfall showed negative impact on barley yield, mainly due to extreme rain events such as high rainfall above optimum requirement of the crop as well as scarcity of rainfall in some pocket areas. The result infers that cultivation of barley moderately depends on rainfall. Subsequently, irrigated land, fertilizer and barley seed quantities used exhibited positive impact on barley yield. Fertilizer and barley seed inputs demonstrated positively significant influence on barley yield, implying that barley yield is highly responsive to application of fertilizer and barley seed inputs and moderately responsive to irrigation input.