Proceedings of the First Annual Conference Crop Protection Society of Ethiopia

Abstract

FAO estimated about 30% crop losses due to diseases and pests In developing countries. If half of these losses could be prevented, Ethiopia could become self sufficient with its present level of food production. Crop protection (entomology, pathology, weeds and vertebrate pests) research In Ethiopia is a recent field of agricultural research. A considerable research work has been done in the past to solve crop protection problems of the country. Inspite of this research endeavor, the need for crop protection research is still enormous. From 1990 to 1992, about 415 research activities have been undertaken in various Institutions involved in crop protection research. The research approach is mainly focused on survey, host resistance and chemical control which constitute about 70% of the operations. Currently the research emphasis is entirely on plant pathology, entomology and weed science. Birds and rodent pest research is yet untouched. The major constraints in crop protection research include shortage of trained man power facility limitations, inadequacies prioritizing research and weak institutional linkage which leads to kick of coordination and division of work among institutions involved in crop protection research. Furture strategies should give due emphasis on research areas like biological control, integrated pest management, biotechnology, chemical residue problems, diversity of crops, studies on epidemiology of pests and diseases and monitoring of pest development. Policy issues in relation to research priority and coordination, consistency of research work, transfer of technology, manpower development, quarantine and pesticide legislation are fundamentals in order to make the research approach more systematic and the research results more relevant.