Thevariety Maamouri 3 was released in Ethiopia for dry and irrigated areas. Otherdurum varieties released, such as Malefia and Bakalcha and promising lines wereidentified in the National Yield trials (NPT). These varieties are stem rustresistant including to Ug99, leaf and yellow rust, and septoria; and show highyield stability in combination with good grain quality.

Thesevarieties are proposed for durum areas in the region of Debre Zeit and theirrigated areas in Ethiopia (Maamouri3) and for the semi-arid areas thecultivars Malefia and Bakalcha. The proposed technology includes high-yielding,drought tolerant elite spring bread wheat (SBW) lines with combined stem rust(Ug99), stripe rust and septoria leaf blotch resistance that are bred for yieldstability, responsiveness and input use efficiency under the erratic climaticconditions characteristic of semi-arid environments.

Theproposed elite SBW lines have already been selected by national programmes andincluded national variety verification trials based on disease pressure(specially rust in Ethiopia and Kenya (East Africa) and adaptation to droughtand heat stresses in semi-arid areas. The selected elite SBW lines are targetedto semi-arid areas in the Rift Valley in both Ethiopia and Kenya in addition tomid-altitude (1800–2000 metres above sea level) areas in central and NorthernEthiopia, Eritrea as well as to Mt Narok areas in Kenya.

Scaling-up approaches used

Theusers are the resource-poor farmers in East Africa. The critical and essentialfactors for successful promotion and adoption of the technology/innovationwere:

§  Seed production and distribution becausethe availability of seed of the improved varieties is crucial for theirdiffusion.

§  Availability and access to input(fertilisers, seed, herbicides and water) is essential for the expression ofyield potential of the improved varieties.

§  Availability of effective extensionsystem.

§  Organisation of farmers’ research groupsis essential, to promote and diffuse the new varieties.

§  Linking farmers to markets is criticalto provide farmers with better options for the utilisation of the crop harvest.

§  Link the farmers to the processingindustries in the country, particularly for durum pasta in Ethiopia.

§  Access/availability of credit isessential to promote the use of quality seed and inputs.

Challengesencountered in disseminating the technology were:

§  Extension services to strengthen farmeradvice service.

§  Dissemination of information regardingimproved varieties.

§  Non-adoption of full package includingvarieties, agronomy and IPM.

Thefollowing are recommendations for addressing the challenges:

§  Large scale out-scaling of improvedvarieties by making the seed available.

§  Strengthening the extension system toadvice to farmers on proper production packages and raise awareness about theimportance of improved varieties.

§  Adoption of full package includingvarieties, agronomy and IPM.

Lessonslearned about the best ways to get technologies or innovations used by thelargest number of people included:

§  Effective partnership and linkagebetween research, extension and farmers.

§  Formation of efficient extension system.

§  Availability of favourable policies

§  It is important to involve women as endusers when testing new varieties on quality attributes, especially to ensurethat they meet Ethiopian consumer preferences.

Name and contact of the organisation: International Centre for AgriculturalResearch in the Dry Areas (ICARDA);

P. O Box5466;

Aleppo,Syria.

Tel:+963 21 221 3433;

Fax:+963 21 221 3490

Email:m.vanginkel@cgiar. Org

Name and contact of presenter:

GeletuBejiga, ICARDA,

AddisAbaba, Ethiopia.

Email: g.bejiga@cgiar.org;

Tel:+25111646 3215

Name and contact of key scientists:

M Nachitand O Abdalla,

P. O.Box 5466, Aleppo;

Email:m.nachit@cgiar.org; o.abdalla@cgiar.org;

Name and contact of key partners:

EthiopianInstitute for Agricultural Research (EIAR);

KenyaAgricultural Livestock and Research Organization (KALRO),