Hot pepper and tomato production and research in Ethiopia

Hot pepper and tomato production and research in Ethiopia

Shanhua, Tainan AVRDC Taiwan

1989

p.442-451

SB349.A85

Hot pepper and tomato are important vegetable crops, extensively grown in most parts of Ethiopia. Hot pepper is a vegetable and spice crop of significant economic value. It is estimated that state farms plant 5,000 ha per season, while the small farmers` sector grows 200,000 ha and produces 100,000 t. The average yield is about 400 kg/ha. Average daily consumption per capita is approximately 15 g. Bakolocal and Marekofana are two local varieties extensively grown in the country. Both small farmers` and state farms raise young seedlings in the nursery and transplant them to the field. Most of the hot pepper is grown under rainfed conditions. The cost of production in the farmers` fields is estimated at US$376.12/ha and US$232.37/t, and in large farms at US$278.60/ha and US$1,020.29/t. The major production constraints include lack of disease and insect-resistant varieties, inadequate management of nursery beds and fields, diseases (bacterial blight, bacterial leafspot, viruses), insects (African bollworm and termites) and weeds. Research programs are underway to identify the most productive varieties that are also resistant to important diseases and insects, and to select the most efficient cultural practices, and the most appropriate crop protection and management schedules. Tomato is an important vegetable crop, of greatest importance in the processing industry. It can be grown in most parts of the country if irrigation is practiced during the dry season. On large farms, an average yield of 7.7 t/ha of fresh fruit can be obtained. The cost of production is estimated at US$1,258.45/ha. Net profit is estimated to be US$5,251.21/ha. The low level of yield and quality of the produce under commercial cultivation, the occurrence of frost at high and late blight, rootknot nematodes, pests like the African bollworm, the tobacco whitefly, aphids, the tomato erinose mite, potato tuber moth, and the parasitic weed Orobanche spp. are the principal factors limiting production. [AS]

Tomato and pepper production in the tropics

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