Crops struggle to grow to heights set by poverty plan

Addisu Legesse former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) was very ambitious in drafting the five year strategic plan for the agriculture sector – the economic backbone of the country.

He was also optimistic about implementing it. However, during the last five years, the sector failed to hit the annual targets set for it.
Despite this, Addisu, was confident enough to predict the sector would meet its target at the end of the strategic year 2009/10.

But he was not blessed with the ability to make his words come true and he was replaced a few months ago by the young Teffera Derebew, who recognised the huge gap between the sector’s actual performance and the target set in the strategic document.

He has been bold enough to tell journalists about the implausibility of achieving the strategic plan: “The strategic plan set a large amount of production, but it is unachievable with the current performance of the sector,” he said last week.

The total cultivated land is expected to increase from 12.28 million hectares in 2004/05 to 12.65 by the end of 2009/10 and total production is envisaged to increase from 16.7 million tonnes to 38.21 tonnes by the end of the plan year according to the second Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP). The crops include cereals, oil seeds, pulse, fibre crops, fruits, vegetable, coffee, tea and spices.

But the actual 2007/08 accomplishment in crop production did not go beyond 18 million tonnes, while the strategic plan set 30.5 million tonnes for that particular year.
At the current level production it is unthinkable to reach the target by the end of the strategic year. This is now clear to Minister Tefera.

The failure to meet the target is because of the sector’s implementation capacity, Tefera said. According to him, some effective farmers are able to produce over 70 quintals per hectare, which is beyond 70 per cent of the international standard. But the current average production rested between 30 to 40 quintals per hectare, which is a significant shortfall and impossible to turnaround in the remainder of the year. However, the plan will be met within an additional one year if everyone strives to maximize farmers’ production, Tefera said.

But some experts disagree. When the first PASDEP was launched, the country’s overall production was 16.7 million tonnes and after four years when the second strategic plan was launched the country’s production was raised only by 3.2 million tones. “So, how it is possible to increase the current production by 20 million tonnes within the coming two years?” an anonymous agro economist asked.

“Steady Production growth has been seen for the last couple of years and there should be an extra five years to produce 38.2 million tonnes” the expert explained to Capital crop production is not the only problem blighting the sector; there is also a drop in fertilizer supply. According to the strategic plan, over 756, 000 metric ton of DAP and Urea are estimated to be required for the current year, but the government plans to import only 550 metric tonnes.

Source: Capital

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