Project News

National Workshop on Forage Seed Research and Development in Ethiopia was held between May 12th and 14th at EIAR. Ethiopia has the largest number of livestock in Africa. Livestock is an important element for the people's livelihood in terms of income and food. Forage crops are increasingly important for maintaining and improving livestock production thus the seeds for forage crops are being recognized by stakeholders as an important technology to sustain the industry. The project's previous phase implemented a FRG based forage seed research at farmers' field and the project was asked to present its experience at the workshop. Dr Abule of Adami Tulu Agricultural Research Centre presented the FRG based forage seed research conducted near Ziway town, which proved that farmers could produce quality forage seeds and earn enough income. Dr Abule conveyed a message to the workshop participants that along with seed productions by formal institutions such as seed enterprises, farmer based forage seed production could play important roles.