Agricultural Biotechnology Research Results 2007-2019

Abstract

Agriculture plays a significant role in the Ethiopian economy; employing the majority of the workforce, supplying food for the ever-increasing human population and feed for animals and contributing for a significant portion of the Gross Domestic Product. The country is endowed with huge genetic resources of crops, livestock, microbial and other forms of fauna and flora that would serve as building blocks for propelling genetic improvement and advancement of the agriculture sector in general. Despite this enormous potential coupled with long tradition of crop production and animal husbandry and bounty of ecological diversity; Ethiopia is still grappling with the challenges of alleviating vulnerability of the agricultural, agro-pastoral and pastoral communities that represent the great majority of the population, to food and nutrition insecurity and degradation of natural resources. Ethiopian agriculture is epitomized as a predominantly low-input low-output system dominated by smallholder producers generating agricultural products that are far less surplus, competitive, diverse and sustainable than would be required for the sector and the country thereof to appease relentlessly spiking food and feed gaps and also to thrive in the domestic as well as world markets. Contrary to this, Ethiopia is now on the verge of completing the second phase of its five-year growth and transformation plan (GTP-II), which was launched in 2015/16. The core determination of the plan is to perpetuate the growth and development trajectory attained during the previous phase and thereby ensuring food security and sovereignty, sustainable supply of raw materials for agro-industries and import substitution, expanding the base for foreign earnings from agricultural exports, and increasing livelihood resilience and environmental sustainability. One of the strategic directions envisaged for attaining the above overarching objectives is through generating or adopting modern research techniques that would enable solving agricultural challengs. The Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), guided by its vision and mission, is striving to contribute to the fulfillment of these fundamental national objectives by undertaking research and generating appropriate technologies, information, and knowledge in different research sectors. The agriculture sector is being challenged with various emerging problems. Some of these are associated with climate change and probably exchange of germplasms. Some of agricultural challenges have been addressed through biotechnological approaches mainly genetic engineering and recombinant rDNA technologies. ii Inlined with this, there is agricultural research sector undertaking various research in plant, animal and microbial biotechnologies that address agricultural challenges. It is relatively recent or young sector structured in the aforementioned three research programs. However, there has been more than a decade since plant tissue culture studies has been started. There are many published and completed activities in all the programs so far. However, these research results have never been compiled and made easily available in EIAR. Hence, this is to present the research outputs and information from the research sector during the GTP II period.