Fertilizer Use Trends for Major Ethiopian Crops by Smallholder Farmers

Abstract

Fertilizer is one of the most important inputs for increasing crop yields and it has been utilized for decades in Ethiopia's agricultural sectors. The trends in fertilizer uses by smallholder farmers from 2004/05 to 2020/21 ‘Meher’ cropping season for the field and horticultural crops at national and regional levels were assessed. Data on the total number of households, the number of households that applied each type of fertilizer, the area treated with each type of fertilizer (organic and inorganic), and the total area sown to each crop were obtained for each cropping season and each crop type from the annual report on farm management practices by the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia. The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of fertilizer applicators and the area treated with fertilizer for each crop was estimated using the exponential trend model and a semi-logarithm trend function. The results revealed that the CAGRs for the number of households who applied inorganic fertilizers on each of the major cereal crops and the area of each particular crop treated with inorganic fertilizer, on most crops, were showed  positive trends  at national and regional levels, indicating an increasing trend in inorganic fertilizer application. At the national level, the number of households who applied inorganic fertilizer on major cereal (tef, wheat, sorghum, maize, and barley) crops increased with CAGR of 9.33 to 19.65% UREA, 7.35 to 18.96% DAP/NPS, and 10.90 to 17.34% DAP/NPS + UREA fertilizer. Similarly, areas fertilized with Urea, DAP/NPS, and combined use of DAP/NPS and UREA fertilizer had increases in CAGR of 6.14 to 20.38%, 6.94 to 21.64%, and 10.01 to 37.59%, respectively. Thus, large number of households and areas were fertilized with DAP/NPS + UREA fertilizer in wheat, tef and maize than barley and sorghum from 2004/05 to 2020/21. In contrast, the trend was decreased significantly for the number of households who applied organic fertilizer from 2004/05 to the 2020/21 cropping season. The CAGR for the household that applied organic and inorganic fertilizers and the area treated with those fertilizers were not evenly distributed among crops and regions; however, all types of fertilizer were applied almost in tef, wheat, sorghum, maize, and barley crops at regional levels. The proportion of households applying DAP/NPS + UREA fertilizer to the major cereal crops between 2004/05 to 2020/21 the cropping seasons was also higher than those applying organic, UREA, and DAP/NPS fertilizer alone. For instance, the average proportions of the households applying DAP/NPS + UREA to wheat, tef, and maize were greater than to barley and sorghum. In terms of region, it was observed that, the percentages of households who applied DAP/NPS + UREA for tef, wheat, and maize were higher in Tigray, followed by Amhara, SNNPR, and Oromia. In general, the application of inorganic fertilizer has increased, but not organic fertilizer despite the benefits of using organic fertilizer. Therefore, the paper gives insights into the trend of using more inorganic fertilizer than organic fertilizer based on the number of household and area coverage at the national and regional levels in Ethiopia.