Issue 3 (203)/2025

ALSE and ACS Style
Kebede, B.; Amare, G.; Korji, D.; Bobo, T. On-farm verification of improved malt barley technologies using demonstration and evaluation approaches, Guji zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Journal of Applied Life Sciences and Environment 2025, 58 (3), 369-385.
https://doi.org/10.46909/alse-583181

AMA Style
Kebede B, Amare G, Korji D, Bobo T. On-farm verification of improved malt barley technologies using demonstration and evaluation approaches, Guji zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Journal of Applied Life Sciences and Environment. 2025; 58 (3): 369-385.
https://doi.org/10.46909/alse-583181

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kebede, Basha, Girma Amare, Dembi Korji, and Tekle Bobo. 2025. “On-farm verification of improved malt barley technologies using demonstration and evaluation approaches, Guji zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.” Journal of Applied Life Sciences and Environment 58, no. 3: 369-385.
https://doi.org/10.46909/alse-583181

On-farm verification of improved malt barley technologies using demonstration and evaluation approaches, Guji zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Basha KEBEDE^*, Girma AMARE, Dembi KORJI and Tekle BOBO

Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; email: girmare2017@gmail.com; korjidembi@gmail.com; bobotekle@gmail.com

*Correspondence: bsshkbd@gmail.com 

Received: May 05, 2025. Revised: Jul. 25, 2025. Accepted: Aug. 15, 2025. Published online: Sep. 05, 2025

ABSTRACT. This study was carried out to determine the profitability and yield of improved malt barley technologies under farmers’ settings and to gather farmers’ feedback on malt barley variety use. Bore and Ana Sora districts, Ethiopia, hosted demonstrations of Sington and IBON 174/03 malt barley varieties in 2023/24. Varieties were sown on 10 m × 10 m plots by nine experimental farmers. Training and mini-field days were employed to promote recommended malt barley technologies. Interviews were used to gather data on farmers’ preferences, yield performance, and production costs. The Likert scale, net income, and descriptive statistics were employed for data analysis. The IBON174/03 (29.58 Qt/ha) variety had a greater yield than the Sington (24.44 Qt/ha) variety. Sington and IBON 174/03 varieties produced 31,650 and 47,816 ETB/ha income, respectively. This showed that improved malt barley production is profitable in the highlands of the Guji zone. Yield, tillering, disease resistance, and market demand were the most valued malt barley variety preferences in the study area. Based on farmers’ preferences, the IBON 174/03 variety was ranked higher than the Sington variety. Therefore, for malt barley production, farmers should use the IBON 174/03 variety. Research centres should focus on farmers’ trait preferences for malt barley variety release.

Keywords: farmer participatory trial; Guji zone, Oromia; improved malt barley; on farm verification.

 

INTRODUCTION

Barley is a principal crop grown extensively around the world. This crop is the fourth most produced in Africa and the globe, after maize, wheat, and rice (FAOSTAT, 2023). Ranking first in Africa, Ethiopia is among the top 10 global barley producers (USDA, 2020). After wheat, sorghum, tef, and maize, barley is the fifth most significant crop in Ethiopia and is the most important crop in Ethiopia for producing malt, food, feed, and income for smallholder farmers (Assefa et al., 2021). Based on its uses, malt barley and food barley varieties are produced by Ethiopian farmers (Haile et al., 2024). Both forms of barley, malt and food, are beneficial to farmers and used for bread, porridge, soup, roasted grain, and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Its straw is utilised for bedding, thatching roofs, and animal feed (Bekele et al., 2020; Haile et al., 2024; Tigabie, 2024; Tilahun et al., 2021; Workie et al., 2024). However, malt barley, as opposed to food barley, is the most significant industrial crop and a vital source of barley for Ethiopian brewers (Ashamo et al., 2020; Jemal, 2022).

Smallholder farmers in the Ethiopian highlands rely on malt barley (Hordeum distichon L.) as their primary source of income. Ethiopia has a lower barley production (2.66 t/ha) than other barley-producing countries, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Arab Emirates (8, 7.59, and 7.0 t/ha, respectively). This is due to the influence of genetics, financial limitations, and improper use of integrated technology (Engida et al., 2022).

In Ethiopia, malt barley is lumped together with food barley for production coverage and number of farmers. The malt barley production yield is extremely low throughout the country and does not meet local brewers’ yearly malt barley grain requirements. Thus, brewers import malt barley grains in exchange for money to increase the domestic output. The amount of malt barley grains imported each year is around 62% of the overall requirements. According to Gashaw et al. (2019) and Ferede and Demsie (2020), there is a growing demand for malt barley grains both domestically and abroad. Such demand is fulfilled when the improved varieties are demonstrated and promoted in potential production areas, such as in the highlands of the Guji zone. It is necessary for the varieties used in the brewing industry to meet certain malting quality characteristics, such as low protein, high malt extract, moderate to high enzyme activity, and low beta glucan.

According to Bizuneh and Abebe (2019), Ferede et al. (2020), Shimelis et al. (2024) and Workie and Tasew (2023), the primary obstacles stopping Ethiopian farmers from producing malt barley were lack of information regarding the production and shortage of improved malt barley varieties. Consequently, the yield of the crop is low (2.11–2.66 t/ha) (Engida et al., 2022; Shimelis and Kefale 2024; Tigabie 2024). National and local research organisations have introduced varieties to boost malt barley yield. Nonetheless, Kedir et al. (2016) reported that different malt varieties and technologies did not reach smallholder farmers in the Guji zone.

Malt barley is a major agricultural transition commodity in the Oromia region. The regional government anticipates that malt barley production will provide enough raw materials for the brewing sector when the best varieties are fully demonstrated and verified for larger production. Guji zone highland areas are suitable for malt barley production, as well as food barley production. To increase malt barley production, the Bore Agricultural Research Center has adapted improved malt barley varieties. The adapted varieties require verification on small plots of farmers’ land through demonstrations before more wide-scale production. Demonstration is a means of disseminating improved varieties in the community. Farmers will not completely accept new or better agricultural technology for vast production until they observe its importance and application on small demonstration plots. It is easy to use and spread varieties after farmers confirm that the variety is improved for their farming context. Farmers focus more on what they see on their farms through bottom-up learning than top-down technology distribution because they believe that seeing is believing.

The absence of better malt barley varieties limits farmers’ intensive farming of malt barley in the highlands of the Guji zone. Many farmers use the local variety, which has a lower yield. Farmers do not have access to improved malt barley varieties due to the lack of sufficient applied demonstration trials for improved varieties in potential smallholder areas. In addition, the full participation of farmers in improved malt barley production, from land preparation to post-harvesting, is a challenge that requires further research. Most malt barley varieties released for different agro-ecologies are on the shelf, and Ethiopia is not a food-secure country due to the lack of demonstrations of improved varieties and their application at the farmer level. Some variety demonstrations do not depict farmers’ preference and varieties are eventually not sustainable in the farming system. This indicates that there is a research gap between demonstration and the promotion of improved malt barley varieties in Ethiopia in general and the Guji zone in particular. However, large-scale production is required to produce the raw material for the brewery industry and household consumption. Thus, the demonstration and evaluation of improved malt barley at the farm level is a stepping stone for large production. The optimal variety ensuring yield should be verified on farmers’ land through the demonstration approach, followed by farmer evaluation. This study focuses on the link between improved variety and farmers’ yield preferences for malt barley production. This demonstration aimed to measure the yield performance of malt barley technologies, estimate the profitability of malt barley technologies under farmer settings, and gather feedback from farmers to advance malt barley production in the Guji zone highlands.

Literature review

Research on malt barley has been continued, with the main goal of improving domestic malt barley production by developing and deploying appropriate malt barley technologies to alleviate the foreign exchange of malt imports. The generation and deployment of new technologies and innovations are necessary for agricultural development, particularly in an agrarian economy, such as that in Ethiopia (Haile et al., 2024). About 30 malt barley varieties have been released for production in Ethiopia (MOA, 2020). Despite the release of several malt barley varieties, farmers’ access and utilisation of improved malt barley varieties has been limited (CSA, 2021). Breeders intend to release and adapt the best varieties for different agro-ecologies, and agricultural extensionists intend to demonstrate, create awareness, and promote the released or adapted varieties to increase agricultural production.

Farmers can learn from real-world experiences (Marchand et al., 2019). On-farm demonstrations should be used to bring farmers’ traditional knowledge and skills into the modern age and to engage in active bottom-up learning activities (Cooreman et al., 2021). A demonstration event can allow farmers and other stakeholders to discuss technologies or varieties, work together to solve issues, compare techniques similar to their own, and become familiar with practical actions (Ingram et al., 2018). Demonstrations are defined as hands-on engagements perceived by organisers and participants to generate a wide range of positive outcomes for farmers, with a primary focus on certifying actual learning opportunities and empowering farmers through demonstration (Adamsone-Fiskovica et al., 2021). According to Kebede and Bobo (2023), agricultural research centres play a crucial role in on-farm demonstrations by transferring their research output to farmers’, making them more effective than advisory services.

In Ethiopia, there are several techniques for transferring agricultural technology from agricultural research centres to farmers (Figure 1). Participatory variety selection, pre-extension demonstration and evaluation, pre-scale up, and large-scale technology promotion are now being used (Korji et al., 2023). In participatory variety or technology selection, varieties are presented to farmers, and the farmers assess the best variety for their circumstances. Its goal in the Ethiopian context is similar to the participatory variety selection approach in Iran (Amghani et al., 2025) Farmers participate in the pre-extension demonstration by doing research on their land, from field preparation to post-management, to assess the importance of the proposed new or superior variety or technology in their agricultural environment. At this stage, farmers’ actions and preferences might impact the variety’s acceptance. The best variety chosen at the pre-extension demonstration stage can be popularised further by pre-scaling and large-scale production to boost productivity and optimise farmers’ benefits (Kebede et al., 2023). Regional and federal research centres in Ethiopia concentrate on the research–extension–farmer linkage, where demonstration is the unit of study that interlinks research, extension, and farmers (Kebede, 2024).

Delivering agricultural research innovations to end users is addressed differently among countries. For example, the Farmer Field School (FFS) method in Burundi is defined as a forum where farmers (25–30 members per FFS) discuss and identify local solutions for a particular problem, such as dairy farming (Josiane et al., 2025). FFSs are programs in which smallholder farmers set up and oversee demonstration plots to highlight agricultural technology and practices that improve household nutrition security, productivity, resilience, and profitability. Considering the beneficial effects of FFSs on rural lives, there is a significant chance of accomplishing the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN (van den Berg et al., 2020).

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research developed a new field demonstration approach called frontline demonstration to reach farmers with improved varieties (Singh et al., 2019; Ali and Singh, 2020). Iran promoted agricultural technology using Agricultural Extension Model Sites. The resources and facilities of the executive, research, and extension departments, the sites, which belong to roughly 20–25 farmers from 1–3 nearby villages, are used to implement and promote the technical recommendations of subject matter experts, the research findings of the research institute, and the policies of the agricultural ministry (AREEO, 2024). Although these sites transfer knowledge and skills to farmers similar to other extension methods, such as demonstration farms, the primary goal of their design was to lessen the disarray among the three primary extension actors in the Ministry of Agriculture: extension, research, and executive bodies. Based on the fundamental extension concepts of participation and learning by doing or seeing, these sites were designed to synergise the different departments involved in extension activities (Amghani et al., 2025).

Research has shown that the models for agricultural extension services have changed significantly since the 1990s and 2000s, when African nations became more democratic. Pluralistic extension systems and decentralised local administration were the outcomes of agricultural extension changes driven by the democratisation process. These shifts from centralised to decentralised approaches have resulted in varying local outcomes over time (Olayemi et al., 2021). Farmers in Uganda can obtain extension assistance for certain agricultural operations, either individually or in groups, under the National Agricultural Advisory assistance (NAADS) program.

According to AfranaaKwapong and Nkonya (2015), this strategy seeks to meet farmers’ objectives, interests, and perceptions, including their opinions of agricultural extension services.

 

 

In contrast, Kenya provides a range of extension services, including public, commodity-based, and community-based services, mostly for high-value crops, such as tea, coffee, and pyrethrum, which are grown using technology generated by government labs. Commodity-based extension, mostly from non-commercial providers who are not motivated by profit, serves a tiny percentage of Kenyan smallholder farmers in impoverished regions (Muyanga and Jayne, 2008).

A Farmer Research Group (FRG) is a small group of farmers (10–15 members) who are interested in working together with extension, research, and other non-public organisations to develop, verify, demonstrate, and improve participatory technologies (Anchala, 2008). FRGs are used in Ethiopia to demonstrate and evaluate agricultural research technology. FRGs typically comprises 15 farmers per kebele, with 3 of them acting as experimental farmers and the remaining farmers as follow farmers. Following verification of the variety/technology during the demonstration stage, the agricultural research centre will scale up the farmers’ selected variety/technology to individuals or groups of farmers over a 2-year period. Following the agricultural research centre’s phase-out of variety scaling up, district agricultural offices pursue extensive extension of variety/technology inside their respective areas.

Empirical review

Malt barley has been evaluated and shown on farms in Ethiopia. Two improved malt barley varieties were presented by Sida et al. (2020), who found that the first malt barley characteristic that farmers chose was yield. Furthermore, their results showed that IBON-174/03 was ranked higher than the other varieties. Mekiso and Getahun (2018) demonstrated malt barley varieties using Pearson coefficients of association for yield and other characteristics and found that the IBON-174/03 variety was chosen due to its seed colour, early maturity, and lodging resistance under farmer conditions.

However, the authors’ demonstration research failed to investigate the profitability of malt barley. Demil et al. (2020) examined the degree of agreement between farmers’ preferred acceptability rank and the rank of actual yield achieved using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.

According to their findings, there was an 80% degree of similarity between farmers’ choice rank and actual yield during demonstrations, suggesting that farmers favoured varieties that were pushed for more wide-scale use because their preferences and actual yields were almost identical at the demonstration stage. Based on their findings, the IBON 174/03 malt barley variety was chosen at two sites. Pairwise rating of improved malt barley varieties’ features was employed by Wubie et al. (2022) in their participatory evaluation of malt barley. Based on their demonstration, the IBON 174/03 malt barley variety ranked second among the varieties that were demonstrated.

It is imperative that demonstration farms be established, especially in Africa, where problems, such as drought, degraded soil, and low crop productivity, continue to exist and endanger millions of people’s means of livelihood. In African nations, there have been notable advancements from demonstrations. Four farmers are utilising demonstration plots to raise knowledge about the performance of improved groundnut, sorghum, and finger millet varieties and their influence on changing livelihoods in Uganda (Alouch et al., 2024). A fertiliser firm in Nigeria employs more than 3000 demonstration farms to educate farmers about contemporary farming methods. In Ghana, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has established over 1242 community demonstration farms that showcase new agricultural technologies. Women in Kenya are being taught about conservation agriculture at a demonstration farm in Meru. This involves protecting bare ground using cover crops, such as grass and legumes, to create seasonal soil cover. Crop production, yields, profitability, and food security are all increased by these sorts of actions (Ngumbi, 2017).

In India, the results of front line demonstrations showed that adopting recommended packages for barley can increase the yield 22.94% over farmers’ practices (Ali and Singh, 2020). China has established 23 demonstration centres across Africa with the goal of upgrading African farming by passing on successes in agriculture. In Israel, an agricultural development centre has trained over 270,000 people from 132 countries in its various courses, 70% of which used demonstrations on agricultural farms (Ngumbi, 2017).

 

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Experiment and demonstration

Improved malt barley varieties Sington and IBON 174/03 were demonstrated on 10 m × 10 m plots in 2023. The experiment was replicated by nine farmers. The spikes of both varieties were two row types. Improved varieties Sington and IBON 174/03 were demonstrated with the recommended practices, such as 20-cm spacing between rows, drilling the seed in the rows, 150 kg/ha of seed, and 121 kg/ha of NPS fertiliser. Hand weeding and hoeing were employed.

Farmers participated in site selection, land preparation, sowing, weeding, harvesting, threshing, and post-handling of demonstrated malt barley varieties. Target farmers, development agents, and subject matter specialists received training for this research study. A farmers’ mini-field day was held to increase demand and promote malt barley production. Farmers’ assessment was undertaken at the maturity stage and after harvesting the crop. Each farmer evaluated Sington and IBON 174/03 varieties based on the qualities that were in demand in their areas. This demonstration was evaluated at maturity and after threshing the malt barley.

Methods of data collection and analysis

Yield, production costs and farmer preferences for malt barley production were collected through observation and farmer interviews. The land cost and variable costs, such as fertiliser, weeding, harvesting, and threshing, were collected. Farmers valued the desired attributes using the Likert scale (1–5), with 1 being very poor, 2 poor, 3 medium, 4 good, and 5 very good. Farmers set their own malt barley traits based on what they know about improved varieties. Farmers graded each of the qualities on a scale. To assess the rank of the variety for further promotion in research areas, the attributes were added together, with a higher value indicating the more preferred variety in the study area.

Methods of data analysis

Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse the yield of malt barley varieties. The profitability of malt barley production was estimated using net income. Total revenue (TR) and net income (NI) were computed using the following formulas:

where Y is yield (Qt/ha), and P is the farm gate price in birr.

where TR is the total revenue; TVC is the total variable cost; and FC is the fixed cost.

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Promotion of malt barley technologies

The promotion of agricultural technologies (varieties, practices, methodologies, and other recommendations) is expected in agricultural technology transfer. Farmers must be proficient at both producing and using the technology. For this demonstration, training and field days were held to improve farmers’ understanding of the use of malt barley technologies.

 

 

In this on-farm verification, the variety, seed rate, fertiliser rate, and recommended managements were broadcasted to the farmers through training and a mini-field day. According to Kebede et al. (2023, 2024) and Kebede and Bobo (2023), mini-field days and training are crucial for promoting and transferring better varieties to the current agricultural system. Refresher training on malt barley was offered to 160 farmers, 18 development agents, and 12 subject matter specialists. The course covered malt barley varieties, their significance, and production techniques. Table 1 and Figure 3 show that during the mini-field day, different types of farmers and others inspected the demonstrated malt barley varieties in the field. The purpose of this mini-field day was to publicise malt barley varieties in different study districts. It was intended for the participants to grow malt barley varieties with the recommended packages.

 

Table 1
Promotion of malt barley technologies at the demonstration stage

Malt barley promotion	SMSs			Das			Farmers
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Adult male	Adult female	Youth male	Youth female	Total
Training	10	2	12	14	4	18	98	42	10	10	160
Mini-field day	18	1	19	17	3	20	68	6	5	2	81

SMS- subject matter specialists, DAs- development agents

 

 

Yield of demonstrated malt barley varieties in the Guji zone highlands

The highest yield of the IBON 174/03 variety was 47 Qt/ha in the Ana Sora district and 33 Qt/ha in the Bore district. The Sington variety had a lower yield in both districts compared to IBON 174/03. The yield performance of IBON 174/03 was comparable to that observed by Abebe and Gichamo (2021) and Abebe and Abebe (2021), who both showed a yield of 27–40 Qt/ha. Ferede and Demsie (2020) showed that although IBON 174/03 was older than the Sington variety, it produced a higher yield (42.24 Qt/ha) than the Sington variety (37.82 Qt/ha).

At the demonstration, IBON 174/03 and Sington had yields of 29.58 and 24.44 Qt/ha, respectively, in the Guji zone highlands (Table 2). This yield is higher than that of the yield reported by Gashaw et al. (2019) of 16–24.6 Qt/ha of several malt barley varieties. Similar to the results of Workie and Tasew (2023), who found that the majority of farmers grow the IBON 174/03 variety, this demonstration showed that IBON 174/03 production was more significant than Sington production.

This shows that malt barley varieties fare better in the Guji zone highlands compared to the national yield of 25 Qt/ha (CSA, 2021). This suggests that the highland areas of the Guji zone have the greatest potential in Ethiopia’s malt barley producing belts. The yield performance of these varieties is significant for home food consumption and as raw material for industry. Even though highland areas of the Guji zone have no industry and are not near industries that consume malt barley, its production is mostly limited to domestic use, ensuring food security rather than input for the beer industry. For farmers and lower-class households, alternative cereals, such as tef, are too costly. Sometimes malt barley is used to replace costly crops for family use since it is less expensive.

Profitability of malt barley production

Malt barley production is an essential way to provide food for the household or as a commodity that farmers may sell to earn money. Income is expected to be generated by improved malt barley varieties.

This demonstration included variable costs to produce malt barley in research studies, such as seed, fertiliser, land preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting, and other expenses. For malt barley production, the total variable costs were 26,716.67 ETB/ha. The mean farm gate price of 3255.56 ETB/Qt was the same for the demonstrated varieties, Sington and IBON174/03. During production at the malt barley demonstration, the fixed cost of land was 19,611.11 ETB/ha. The net income result showed that the production of Sington and IBON 174/03 generated a profit of 31,650 and 47,816 ETB/ha, respectively (Table 3).

The production of Sington and IBON 174/03 varieties in the Guji highlands was lucrative, providing farmers with a source of income. These results are similar to those of MOA (2020) regarding the rapid growth of malt barley as a source of revenue in many highland parts of Ethiopia.

 

Table 2
Yield of demonstrated malt barley varieties

Highland districts		Yield of Sington (Qt/ha)	Yield of IBON 174/03 (Qt/ha)
Ana Sora	N	4	4
	Minimum	20.0	22.0
	Maximum	36.0	47.0
	Mean	29.13	33.69
	Std. Deviation	6.74	10.27
Bore	N	5	5
	Minimum	15.0	20.0
	Maximum	28.50	32.0
	Mean	20.70	26.30
	Std. Deviation	5.63	5.14
Total	N	9	9
	Minimum	15.0	20.0
	Maximum	36.0	47.0
	Mean	24.44	29.58
	Std. Deviation	7.25	8.24

 

Table 3
Profitability of malt barley varieties

Components of analysis	N	Min.	Max.	Mean	Std. Dev.
Yield of Sington (Qt/ha)	9	15.00	36.0	24.44	7.25
Yield of IBON 174/03 (Qt/ha)	9	20.00	47.0	29.58	8.24
Farm price of varieties (ETB/Qt)	9	2600	3800	3255.56	339.53
Total variable costs (ETB/ha)	9	24,475	33,100	26,716.67	2508.27
Fixed cost (ETB/ha)	9	16,000	25,000	19,611.11	3218.87
Total revenue of Sington (ETB/ha)	9	52,500	100,800	77,977.78	18,100.33
Total revenue of IBON 174/03 (ETB/ha)	9	70,000	122,200	94,144.44	16,976.39
Net income of Sington (ETB/ha)	9	11,200	50,475	31,650.0	15,415.10
Net income of IBON 174/03 (ETB/ha)	9	28,700	64,100	47,816.67	13,142.90

(1 USD=137.934 ETB, July 5, 2025)

 

Malt barley traits and variety preferences

The protein content, extract, and brewery malt are the best qualities of malt barley. Farmers, however, have preferences that go beyond brewery malt. Farmers in the research areas establish their own standards for malt barley production. In study areas, malt barley varieties with high yield, more disease tolerance, tillering, and early maturity features were preferred by farmers (Table 4). This choice was consistent with those observed by Ferede and Demsie (2020), as tillering and disease resistance attributes were recognised by farmers. Farmers preferred Sington and IBON 174/03 varieties because both varieties were early maturing and had comparable values. Similar to Wubie et al. (2022), the tillering ability of IBON 174/03 was 44 of 45 points. This demonstrated that the IBON 174/03 variety outperformed Sington in terms of tillering ability, as it only had 34 of 45 points. Increased yield is beneficial for both home and commercial usage and can result from this tillering capacity. The IBON 174/03 variety outperformed the Sington variety in all attributes that farmers valued in the highland areas of the Guji zone. The IBON 174/03 variety was ranked first, and Sington was placed second based on the mean score of characteristics. IBON 174/03 and Sington varieties were ranked as the second and third attractive varieties, respectively, of 12 malt barley varieties by farmers in the Guagua Shikudad area (Ferede and Demsie, 2020). This demonstration revealed that IBON 174/03 production was more significant than Sington production with a higher cumulative score of 168 of 180 and mean of 33.6 in the Guji zone highlands (Table 4). Nonetheless, in certain locations, birds attacked IBON 174/03 and Sington varieties due to their early maturing nature.

Based on a malt barley variety demonstration, 77.8% of farmers mentioned that IBON174/03 had a very good yield and good and medium yield with an equal value of 11.1%. Only 11.1% of farmers mentioned that the Sington variety had a very good yield. The majority of farmers (66.7%) mentioned that the Sington variety was good in terms of yield performance. In terms of yield, IBON 174/03 received 87.5% of farmers’ preference, while the Sington variety received 12.5% (Table 5). This indicated that the IBON 174/03 malt barley variety was more preferred by farmers in the Guji highlands. Similar to crop breeders during variety release, farmers focus more on the demonstrated variety’s yield. The result of chi-square analysis revealed a significant relationship between improved variety and farmers’ yield preference on malt barley production at less than 5% significance level (P < 0.05) (Table 5).

This shows that released or adapted varieties have yield advantages for farmers. This implies agricultural research centres should release and adapt malt barley varieties that have a direct relationship with yield increment for farmers.

 

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The adoption of research technologies by end users depends on their marketing and demonstration. Therefore, to boost farmer productivity, agricultural research and development partners should promote research recommendations that include improved varieties, fertilisers, and farming techniques. This can be verified by the demonstration of released technologies on farmers’ land. The Guji highlands were used for the evaluation and demonstration of malt barley technologies. In farmers’ fields, the IBON 174/03 and Sington malt barley varieties performed better during the demonstration, and experimental farmers verified IBON 174/03 and Sington as important malt barley varieties in their farming context. IBON174/03 had a higher yield than Sington. Malt barley production of Sington and IBON 174/03 is profitable for farmers in the Guji zone highlands. Farmers favoured IBON174/03 over the Sington variety during the demonstration because IBON174/03 had a higher yield, better tillering, and improved disease resistance compared to Sington. Large scale production of IBON 174/03 malt barley is feasible in the Guji zone highlands.

 

Table 4
Farmers’ preference and rank of malt barley varieties

Variety	Malt barley traits valued by farmers				Total	Mean	Rank
	Yielder	Disease tolerance	Tillering	Early maturity
Sington	35	35	34	40	144	28.8	2
IBON 174/03	42	42	44	40	168	33.6	1

 

Table 5
Farmers’ variety preference on yield performance

				Farmers’ preference on yield					Total
				Medium		Good		Very good
Variety demonstrated	IBON 174/03	Count		1		1		7	9
		Expected Count		1.5		3.5		4.0	9.0
		% within variety demonstrated		11.1%		11.1%		77.8%	100.0%
		% within farmers preference on yield		33.3%		14.3%		87.5%	50.0%
	Sington	Count		2		6		1	9
		Expected Count		1.5		3.5		4.0	9.0
		% within variety demonstrated		22.2%		66.7%		11.1%	100.0%
		% within farmers preference on yield		66.7%		85.7%		12.5%	50.0%
Total		Count		3		7		8	18
		Expected Count		3.0		7.0		8.0	18.0
		% within variety demonstrated		16.7%		38.9%		44.4%	100.0%
		% within farmer preference on yield		100.0%		100.0%		100.0%	100.0%
Chi-Square Tests
Pearson Chi-Square			Value		Df		Asymptotic Significance (P-value)
			8.405		2		0.015

 

Demonstration and evaluation of improved varieties should be conducted before large production on farmers’ land. Farmers’ varietal and trait preferences should be considered in sustainable agricultural production. IBON 174/03 was verified as a preferred malt barley variety in the Guji zone highlands. Farmers should use the IBON 174/03 malt barley variety. Agricultural research centres and agricultural cooperatives should widely distribute IBON 174/03 to increase the yield of malt barley. Yield, disease resistance, and a high number of tillers are traits that should be the focus of agricultural research when introducing new malt barley varieties for the Guji zone highlands.

 

Author contributions: Conceptualization: BK; Methodology: BK; Analysis: BK; Investigation: BK, GA, DK, TB; Resources: BK; Data curation: BK, GA, DK; Writing: BK; Review: GA, DK, TB; Supervision: BK, GA, DK. All authors declare that they have read and approved the publication of the manuscript in this present form.

Funding: The authors would wish to express their gratitude to Oromia Agricultural Research Institute funding this re-search.

Acknowledgments: The authors express their gratitude to Bore Agricultural Research Center for providing the vehicles needed to carry out this research activity and Oromia Agricultural Research Institute for funding it.

Conflicts of interest: The authors affirm that no conflicts of interest are associated with this publication.

 

REFERENCES

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