Project News

On 23rd May, 2011, Professor Nishikawa and Mr. Bedru Beshir of Nagoya University and Mr. Seo of FRGII project visited Wolaita Sodo University (330km South by South West from Addis Ababa) and their FRG based research site (Duguna Fango Woreda, Edo Kebele).

The rain season has already started in the area and the access to the site was not so easy. In contrast, the meeting among researchers from Wolaita Sodo University, FRG farmers and visitors went smoothly.

In the meeting, one of the FRG farmers who conducted "a research on teff seeding rate" in 2010/11 season asked a question to the researchers "The seeds we received for the research activity last season were somehow heavier and of good quality comparing to the ones we usually use. Did it come from sky or from Japan? How could seeds be like that??" It showed the farmers' interest in seed quality.

Actually, the seeds in 2010/11 season were prepared by an Agricultural Research Center with paying attention to reduce mixture of foreign materials and different varieties and to eliminate low-quality seeds. Comments from farmers are often critically important because they could give us a clue to the new research topics and help us to develop appropriate technologies.

After coming back to Wolaita Sodo University, the researchers and the visitors had an active discussion. For this coming 2011/2012 season, the University is going to conduct FRG research on teff seed rate (continuous), farmers saved seed quality assessment, and tomato seed extraction techniques to focus more on the seed quality issue.

Meeting with FRG farmers

Presentation on the research outcome by the researchers of Wolaita Sodo University