28th Annual Research and Extension Review Proceedings 2010/2011

Abstract

Maize is one o f the w orld’s three most important cereals along with wheat and rice. Maize is currently produced on nearly 100 million hectares in 125 developing countries and is among the three most widely grown crops in 75 o f those countries and its Global production is estimated to be over 800 million tons per year (FAOSTAT, 2010). Although much o f the world’s maize production (approximately 78%) is utilized for animal feed, human consumption in many developing and developed countries is steadily increasing. For example, maize is the most important cereal crop for food in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. The growing demand for food consumption in developing countries alone is predicted to increase by around 1.3% per annum until 2020 (Ortiz et al., 2010). Between now and 2050, the demand for maize in the developing world will double, and by 2025, maize is likely to become the crop with the greatest production globally (Rosegrant et al., 2010). In Ethiopia, cereals account for about 82.34% o f the annual national crop production. Maize ranks first in total production and yield per unit area and second in area coverage among all the cereals in the country and it is the second most important cereal crop after maize in eastern Ethiopia (CSA, 2010). In 2010/2011 cropping season about 2,152,571.40 ha o f land was covered by maize with an estimated production o f 49,263,541.69 tons and its productivity capacity was 2.3 t/ha (CSA, 2010). ). It is largely produced in western, central, southern and eastern regions. It is maimy produced for human consumption in different form o f food such as bread, boiled green maize on cob, roasted maize grain etc. In addition, it is also used to prepare local beverages such as “tella” and “Aarekie”. The leaves, cobs and stalk are used for animal feed, as fuel wood, for fuel and also used as industrial material for oil and glucose production (M oRAD, 2009). The maize research and extension program o f the university has been working hand-in-hand wit the National M aize Research and Extension for the past several years. As a result it has been contributing in the development o f improve maize technology for the Ethiopian farmers and that of the farmers o f eastern Ethiopia. During 2009/2010 cropping season several breeding activities were conducted in areas o f germplasm refreshm ent/rejuvenation, variety testing and verification o f varieties. In addition, HU researcher actively participated in the preparation o f “Improved M aize Technology Generation and Promotion fo r Highland, M id-altitude and Lowland Agro-ecologies o f Ethiopia”. The general and specific objectives o f the program are indicated below. The weather condition during the early stages o f the 2009/2010 cropping season was not conducive and the rainfall was erratic and very little to support the crop plants in the month of June (only 23.4 m m) and up to the middle o f July (5.4 mm), which lead to poor performance o f some o f the genotypes tested due to exposure o f the plants at the critical stage o f development (flowering time).