Enhancing sorghum production through participatory technology demonstration in dryland areas of Wag-Lasta, Ethiopia

The study was conducted to evaluate the performance of improved sorghum technology against the local practice in a participatory approach. Twelve farmers from Sekota and Lasta districts hosted the trial. Both Melkam improved sorghum variety and the local cultivars were sown on randomly assigned plots managed under improved and existing farmers’ management practices. The technologies were evaluated through the participation of farmers organized into two farmers’ research and extension groups, representing the diverse social segments in Sekota and Lasta, respectively. The results indicated that the performance of the improved variety is significantly higher than that of the local variety across various parameters in both districts. Therefore, Melkam improved variety had a yield advantage of 1.9t h -1 and 2.35t h -1 from the local check with improved management and farmers’ practices, respectively, in Sekota district. Likewise, in Lasta district, the variety had a yield advantage of 0.886t h -1 and 1.516t h -1 under the same respective conditions. The Melkam improved variety provided the highest net return of 47,658 ETB/ha, with a marginal rate of return of 789%. In addition, farmers’ evaluation based on the overall weighted ranking of their selection criteria revealed that Melkam improved variety ranks first in both districts. This suggests that it’s safe for scaling up these sorghum technologies in the respective midlands of Wag-Lasta areas.