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Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] is extensively cultivated cereal crop in Ethiopia where it is annually grown by about 6.5 million smallholder farmers on about 30% of the total area allocated to cereal crops. However, the productivity of tef is very low compared to other cereals mainly due to little scientific research on the crop, widespread use of local varieties coupled with traditional cultural practices, and lack of drought tolerant varieties. A multi-environment field experiment was, therefore, carried with the objectives of identifying and releasing high yielding and farmer- and consumer-preferred tef variety for moisture deficit areas of the country. The drought tolerant tef genotypes tested were derived from two independent crosses of Dtt2 x Dtt13 and DZ-Cr-387 x Dtt2. The parental lines Dtt2 (drought tolerant tef2) and Dtt13 (drought tolerant tef 13) were obtained by screening 5,000 ethylmethane sulfonate (EMS) mutagenized populations from an improved variety called Tsedey. Twelve candidate droughts tolerant tef genotypes from preliminary variety trials and a local as well as standard check varieties (Boset) were tested over two years (2018 and 2019 main cropping seasons) at five moisture deficit tef growing areas in Ethiopia (viz. Debre Zeit light soil, Minjar, Alemtena, Melkassa and Sirinka) using randomized complete block design with four replications. Late sowing combined with light textured soils was used to simulate terminal drought stress at Debre Zeit light soil and Minjar. The combined analyses of variance did not exhibit statistically significant difference for genotype by environment interaction. However, among the tested lines, the candidate line RIL 37 from Dtt2 x Dtt13 cross was found superior in grain yield over the standard check Boset variety (by 13.2%) and the local cultivar (by 27.6%). The candidate line was further evaluated in the variety verification trial during the 2020 main cropping season and approved for the release by the National Variety Release Committee in 2021 with name DZ-Cr-498 (RIL 37) or Boni.

Three field experiments were carried out on black soil (Vertisols) at Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center during the main season between 2011 and 2013 to determine appropriate sowing/planting methods, seed rates, inter- and intra-row spacings, and planting depth for tef. Each experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Data were taken on days to panicle emergence and to maturity, plant height, panicle length, lodging index, shoot biomass, and grain yield. Combined analyses of variance over years showed that sowing methods had no significant effect on any of the traits assessed, while sowing methods and seed rates interaction effects were significant for all the traits evaluated. Irrespective of sowing methods significantly higher grain yields were recorded with higher seeding rates (10-25 kg/ha). Among the spacing treatments, sowing with 10 cm row spacing showed the highest mean grain (2621 kg/ha) and shoot biomass (21861 kg/ha) yield. Hill planting irrespective of the row spacing gave the lowest grain and shoot biomass yield, while transplanting, gave intermediate grain and shoot biomass yield comparable to those of row sowing. In the third experiment that combined row spacing and sowing depth, the highest grain yield (2404 kg/ha) was obtained from 20 cm row spacing by 3 cm planting depth followed by 20 cm row spacing by 5 cm planting depth (2292 kg/ha). Overall, based on the results of this study, seed rates of 10-15 kg/ha for both broadcasting and row spacing, and row spacing of 20 cm and sowing depth of 3 cm would be recommended for tef production on black soils at Debre Zeit and other similar areas.&nbsp

አህፅሮት ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ጤፍ (Eragrostis tef) ከ6.5 ሚሊዮን በሚበልጡ አነስተኛ አርሶ አደሮች ይመረታል፡፡ ሆኖም ግን የተሻሻሉ ቴክኖሎጂዎችና የምርጥ ዘር ተጠቃሚነት ውስን በመሆኑ የሰብሉ ምርታማነት ዝቅተኛ እንደሆነ ቀጥሏል፡፡ ስለሆነም አነስተኛ አርሶ አደሮች ጥራቱን ለጠበቀ የጤፍ አራቢ ዘር ያላቸውን ተደራሽነት ለመጨመር ዓላማ ያደረገ ጥናት በ254 መሪ አርሶ አደሮች ማሳ ላይ ተካሂዷል፡፡ በጥናቱም በቅርብ ጊዜ የተለቀቁ ሦስት አዳዲስ ዝርያዎች እና አንድ ቀደም ብሎ የተለቀቀ ዝርያ (ቦሰት) ተካተው ተገምግመዋል፡፡ ለእያንዳንዱ መሪ-አርሶ አደር የአራቱም ዝርያዎች ማለትም የኮራ፣ የተስፋ፣ የዳግም እና የቦሰት አራቢ ዘር ተሰጥቷል፡፡ የአራቱ ዝርያዎች የዘር ምርት ተቀራራቢ (ኮራ = 1.94፣ ተስፋ = 2.31፣ ዳግም = 2.24 እና ቦሰት = 2.36 ቶን በሄክታር) ነበር፡፡ ጥናቱ በተካሄደባቸው ወረዳዎች ያለውን የግብዓት ዋጋ እና የምርት ዋጋ እሳቤ ውስጥ ሲገባ የተገኘው አማካይ ያልተጣራ ገቢ 65,355.90 ብር በሄክታር ሲሆን አማካይ የማምረቻ ወጪው ደግሞ 26,355.52 ብር በሄክታር ነበር፡፡ ከማምረቻ ወጪዎች መካከል ለጉልበት የወጣው ወጪ ትልቁን ድርሻ ሲይዝ ከጠቅላላው ወጪ 58 በመቶ ድርሻ ነበረው፡፡ በአጠቃላይ የገቢ-ወጪ ምጣኔ 1.5 በመሆኑ የተሻሻለ የጤፍ ዝርያ ቴክኖሎጂ መጠቀም በጣም ትርፋማ እንደሆነ ጥናቱ ያመልክታል፡፡ ይህም በመሆኑ አዳዲስ የሚወጡ የጤፍ ዝርያዎችን ዘር አባዝቶ ለገብያ ማቅረብን ትኩረት ያደረገ የሰርቶ ማሳያ ስራ ቢሰራ ለአርሶ አደሮች ሳቢና አዋጭ ሆኖ ተገኝትዋል፡፡ ጠቋሚ ቃላት፡ መሪ አርሶ አደሮች፤ የጤፍ ዝርያዎች፤ የምርጥ ዘር ምርት፤ የጤፍ ጭድ፤ የምርት ዋጋ Abstract Tef (Eragrostis tef) is extensively cultivated by over 6.5 million smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. However, the productivity of the crop remains low mainly due to the limited use of improved technologies including seeds. In this study, three recently released and one old (as a check) tef varieties were evaluated on 254 lead farmers’ fields with the main aim of increasing farmers’ access to quality breed seeds.Each lead farmer was provided with breeder seeds of four improved tef varieties, namely Kora, Tesfa, Dagim, and Boset.The seed yield from the four tef varieties were comparable (Kora = 1.94, Tesfa = 2.31, Dagim =2.24 and Boset = 2.36 t ha-1). Given the input and output prices that prevail in the selected districts, the mean revenue was 65,355.90 Birr ha-1 while the mean production cost was 26,355.52 Birr ha-1. Among production costs, labor took for the lion’s share as it contributed to 58% of the total cost. In general, with a benefit-cost ratio of 1.5, our technology is highly profitable and attractive to farmers if newly released tef varieties are disseminated in the seed-business-oriented method. &nbsp

In summary, whilst the generation of basic scientific information on the genetics, genomics, physiology and other related biosciences is still a fundamental requirement, the overall improvement of tef in Ethiopia requires a concerted and holistic multi-disciplinary approach. This, in turn, calls for enhancement of national, regional and international networking, collaboration and data sharing among research and development, and donor institutions and organizations. Last but not least, in order to see the impact on the genetic progress research on tef, it is imperative to undertake large-scale popularization of the released varieties, where the end-user farmers can see the impact of such improved technologies through demonstrations and scaling up activities involving improved varieties coupled with commensurate management practices.

Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] is the major cultivated cereal crop in Ethiopia and serves as staple food grain for over 65% of the population. The area under tef cultivation is over three million hectares of land each year. Depending on the type of seed color, tef grains are categorized into white and brown, while some admixtures and intermediate seed colors also exist. However, the productivity of tef is very low as compared to other cereals due, among others, to lack of high yielding varieties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of released brown seeded tef variety called Felagot and to provide unique morphological and agronomic descriptions of this new variety. Twelve genotypes resulting from two independent crossesnd breed for at least seven generations plus local and standard check varieties were tested over two years (2014 and 2015 main season) at six tef growing locations namely: Debre Zeit light soil, Debre Zeit Black soil, Minjar, Adet, Bichena and Holetta using randomized complete block design with four replications. The study found that Felagot (DZ-Cr-442/ RIL-77C) which was obtained from a cross between Quncho (the popular variety) and Gea Lammie (local cultivar) exceled the other genotypes and it was approved for release by the Ethiopian National Variety Release Committee in March 2017. The main advantages of Felagot over the other tested lines were its higher grain yield together with high straw yield and brown seed color. In addition, it was released under the brown seed category after one and half decades. Furthermore, it is anticipated that because of the brown seed color Felagot will command high external market preferences and prices, and thereby contribute for future tef export market., ጤፍ በኢትዮጵያ ከሚመረቱ የብርዕና አገዳ ሰብሎች ዋነኛው ሲሆን ከ65 በመቶ ለማያንስ ህዝብ ዋና የምግብ ሰብል በመሆን ያገለግላል፡፡ የጤፍ የዘር ቀለም ተለያይነት ያለው ሲሆን በአብዛኛው ነጭና ቡናማ/ቀይ አንዳንዴም ድብልቅ እና መካከለኛ የዘር ቀለም በየዓመቱ ከሶሰት ሚሊዮን ማሳ በላይ በመሸፈን ይመረታል፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ ከሌሎች ሰብሎች ጋር ሲወዳደር ምርትና ምርታማነቱ ዝቅተኛ ነው፡፡ ለዚህም ዋና ዋና ምክንያት በመሆን የሚጠቀሰው የተሻሻሉ ዝርያዎች በበቂ ሁኔታ አለመኖር ነው፡፡ የዚህ ጥናት ዋና ዓላማ እየጨመረ የመጣውን የቡናማ/ቀይ ጤፍ ፍላጎት ለማሟላት በተለያየ የምርምር አሰራርና ሂደት የተገኘ የጤፍ ዝርያን በመፈተሽ የተሻለ ምርት የሚሰጥና በአርሶ አደሩና በተጠቃሚው ተመራጭ የሆነ ዝርያ ማፍለቅ ነበር፡፡ በጥናቱም አስራ ሁለት የተለያዩ የጤፍ ዓይነቶችን ጨምሮ አንድ በቅርቡ የተለቀቀ እና አንድ የአካባቢ ዝርያን በማካተት በስድስት ወካይ ጤፍ አብቃይ ቦታዎች ላይ ተፈትሸው ፍላጎት (ደዘ-ክሮስ-442) የተባለው ቡናማ/ቀይ ዘር ቀለም ያለው ዝርያ ከሌሎች ማወዳደሪያ ዝርያዎች የተሻለ ውጤት በማስመዝገቡ በብሄራዊ የዝርያ አፅዳቂ ኮሚቴ ተገምግሞ ለምርት እንዲውል ተወስኗል፡፡ በተጨማሪም ይህ ዝርያ ቡናማ/ቀይ ዘር ቀለም ያለው ዝርያ ከተለቀቀ ከአስራ አምስት አመታት በኃላ የተገኘና የወደፊት የውጭ ገበያ ፍላጎትን ለሟሟላት ከፍተኛ አስተዋፅኦ ሊያበረክት የሚችል ነው፡፡

አህፅሮትጤፍ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በሰፊው የሚመረት የምግብ ሰብሌ ሲሆን በየዓመቱ ከሦስት ሚሉዮን ሄክታር የሚበሌጥ መሬት ይሸፈናሌ፡፡ ይህ የመሬት ስፋት ሇብርዕ እና አገዳ ሰብልች በየዓመቱ ከሚውሇው የመሬት ስፋት ውስጥ 30 በመቶ ይሆናሌ፡፡ በቆል እና ስንዴ ከመሳሰለት የብርዕ እና አገዳ ሰብልች ጋር ሲወዳዯር ጤፍ ሕይወት ባሊቸውና ሕይወት በላሊቸው ነገሮች የሚመጡ ተፅዕኖዎችን የበሇጠ የመቋቋም አቅም አሇው፡፡ የጤፍ ማሻሻያ ፕሮግራም ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በ1940ቹ ከተጀመረበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ 42 የሚሆኑ የተሻሻለ የጤፍ ዝርያዎች በብሔራዊ የምርምር ሥርዓቱ ተሇቀዋሌ፡፡ ሆኖም ግን ጤፍን ሇማምረት የሚወጣው ወጪ እና የሚገኘው አጠቃሊይ የምጣኔ ሀብት ጠቀሜታ በውሌ ተጠንቶ አያውቅም፡፡ ስሇሆነም ጤፍን ሇማምረት የሚከናወኑ ተግባራትን ከምጣኔ ሀብት ጠቀሜታ አንፃር ሇመገምገም በመካከሇኛው ኢትዮጵያ ባለት አራት ዋና የጤፍ አምራች ወረዳዎች (አዯአ፤ጊምቢቹ፤ሞረትና ጅሩ እና ምንጃር- ሸንኮራ) ውስጥ በሚገኙ 46 ግምባር ቀዯም አርሶ አዯሮችን ያካተተ የመስክ ጥናት ተካሂዷሌ፡፡ በቅርብ ጊዜ የተሇቀቁ ኮራ እና ቦስት የሚባለ የጤፍ ዝርያዎች በጥናቱ ተካተው ተሞክረዋሌ፡፡ ኮራ እና ቦሰትን ሇማምረት የሚያስፈሌገው የሥራ ማስኬጃ ወጪ እንዯቅዯም ተከተሊቸው በአማካይ 19,308.70 እና 18,859.27 ብር በሄክታር ነበር፡፡ ኮራን በማምረት የተገኘው ምርት በሄክታር ከ1,200.00 እስከ 2,500.00 ኪ.ግ ሲሆን አማካይ ምርቱ ዯግሞ 1,963.00 ኪ.ግ. ነበር፡፡ በተመሳሳይ መሌኩ ቦሰትን ሇማምረት የተገኘው ምርት በሄክታር ከ2,000.00 እስከ 2,800.00 ኪ.ግ ሲሆን አማካይ ምርቱ በሄክታር 2,540.00 ኪ.ግ. ነበር፡፡ ኮራ የተዘራው በተስማሚ እና በቂ ዝናብ በሚገኝበት ስነምህዳር ቢሆንም በ2008 ዓ. ም በነበርው ያሇተስተካከሇ ዝናብ ምክንያት ከቦሰት ያነሰ ምርት ሉሰጥ ችሎሌ፡፡ ኮራን በማምረት የተገኘው ትርፍ በሄክታር 22,676.43 ብር ሲሆን ቦስትን በማምርት የተገኘው ትርፍ ዯግም በሄክትር 35,721.12 ብር ነበር፡፡ ጤፍ ሇማምራት ከሚወጣው ጠቅሊሊ ወጪ ውስጥ ከፍተኛው ወጪ የዋሇው ሇሰው ጉሌበት (58%) እና ሇማዳበሪያ (22%) ነበር፡፡ ሇሰው ጉሌበት ከወጣው ወጪ ውስጥ ትሌቁን ድርሻ የወሰዯው የአጨዳ ሥራ (43%) ሲሆን የአረም ሥራ (35%) በሁሇተኛነት ይከተሊሌ፡፡ ሇአጨዳ እና ሇአረም ሥራዎች ወጪ መጨመር በሄክታር የሚወጣው ወጪ እንዯጨምር ከፍተኛ አሰተዋፅኦ ከማድረጋቸውም በሊይ ትርፋማነትንም እንዯሚቀንሱ ጥናቱ አረጋግጧሌ፡፡ ስሇሆነም ሇአጨዳ እና ሇአረም ሥራዎች የሚወጣውን የሰው ጉሌበት ወጪ ሇመቀነስ የሚረደ ቴክኖልጂዎችን ማመንጨት ወይም መፈሇግ ያስፈሌጋሌ፡፡AbstractTef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] is the most important food crop in Ethiopia. It is annually cultivated on over three million hectares of land, which is equivalent to 30% of the total area allocated to cereals in the country. Compared to other cereal crops, such as wheat and maize, tef has higher tolerance to unfavorable environmental conditions, which include both biotic and abiotic stresses. Since the inception of Tef Improvement Program in Ethiopia in the late 1950s, the National Research System has released 42 improved varieties. However, cost of production and economic benefit derived from tef farming was not clearly understood. Thus, a study was carried out in the field plots of 46 lead farmers in four districts (namely, Ada’a, Gimbichu, Moretna-Jirru, and Minjar-Shenkora) where tef is the major cereal crop in order to assess the economics aspects of the tef faming venture. Two recently released tef varieties Kora and Boset were used for the study. On average, the total variable cost of production was 19,308.70 birr ha-1 for Kora and 18,859.27 birr ha-1 for Boset. Although the average grain yield was 1,963.00 kg ha-1 for Kora and 2,540.00 kg ha-1 for Boset, it ranged from 1,200 to 2,500 kg ha-1 for Kora and from 2,000 to 2,800 kg ha-1 for Boset. Kora was sown at appropriate agro-ecologies that receive better rainfall but Boset gave higher yield as a result of climate change and erratic rainfall in 2016. The average profit was 22,676.43 birr ha-1 for Kora and 35,721.12 birr ha-1 for Boset. The two highest production costs were labor (58%) and fertilizer (22%). From the total labor costs used in tef production, the lion’s share went to harvesting (43%) and weeding (35%). The study revealed that harvesting and weeding are the most critical factors to escalate cost of production, and thereby to decrease its profitability. Thus, technologies should be sought to minimize cost of labor for harvesting and for weeding in tef production.

Tef is the major Ethiopian cereal grown on 3.02 million hectares annually and serving as staple food grain for over 70 million people. However, the national average yield of tef is low 1.6 t ha-1. This is partially due to the use of unimproved local cultivars, and biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore the experiment was designed to develop high yielding and desirable quality improved varieties suitable for diverse agro-ecologies, farming systems and purposes. Fourteen tef genotypes including two checks were laid out in randomized complete block design using four replications for two years (2012 and 2013) at eight locations. Results of combined data analysis across locations and over the years showed that candidate variety Dagem [DZ-Cr-387 X Kay Murri (DZ-Cr-438 (RIL No 91A))] performed better than the two check and other test genotypes. Thus, Dagim was identified and released as best promising tef variety for production in the country.

Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter], is a staple food crop of Ethiopians that originated and diversified in Ethiopia. It has existed in Ethiopia throughout recorded history. Annually, it occupies 3.02 million hectares thereby ranking first among all cereals cultivated in the country. However, the national average yield of tef is low 1.6 t ha-1. The use of unimproved local cultivars and biotic and abiotic stresses are partially attributed to the low yield of the crop. Thus, the experiment was designed to develop high yielding and desirable quality improved varieties of tef suitable for diverse agro-ecologies, farming systems and purposes. Fourteen tef genotypes including two checks were laid out in randomized complete block design using four replications for two years (2012 and 2013) at eight locations. The combined data analysis across locations and over the years indicated that candidate variety Kora (DZ-Cr-438 (RIL No. 133B) performed better than the two checks and other test genotypes. Consequently, Kora was identified and approved for large scale production.

ጤፍ በኢትዮጵያ ከሚመረቱ የብርዕና አገዳ ሰብልች ዋናው ሲሆን የዓመቱ ቁጥር ከ6.5 ሚሉዮን የማያንስ አርሶ አዯር ያመርተዋሌ፡፡ ይህም አጠቃሊይ በብርዕና አገዳ ሰብልች ከሚሸፈነው ማሳ 30% ድርሻ አሇው፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ ከላልች ሰብልች ጋር ሲነፃፀር ምርታማነቱ አነስተኛ ነው፡፡ ሇዚህም ምክንያቱ በከፊሌ አርሶ አዯሩ ያሌተሻሻለ የአካባቢ ዝርያዎችን በመጠቀሙና፣ የሰብለ ተፈጥሯዊ የመጋሸብ ባህሪ ናቸው፡፡ የዚህ ጥናት ዓሊማ በተሇየ ምርምር አሰራር የተገኘን የጤፍ ዝርያን በመፈተሸ የተሻሇ ምርት፤ የአገዳ ጥንካሬን አንዲሁም የዘር ቀሇም ያሇውና በአርሶ አዯሩ ተመራጭ ዝርያ ማፍሇቅ ነበር፡፡ በጥናቱ በቅርቡ የተሇቀቀ አንድ ዝርያና አንድ የአካባቢ ዝርያን ጨምሮ 10 የተሇያዩ የጤፍ አይነቴዎችን በማካተት በስድስት ወካይ ጤፍ አብቃይ ቦታዎች ሊይ ተፈትሸው ተስፋ (ዯዘ-ክሮስ-457) ተብል የተሰየመውና የተሇያዩ የጤፍ አይነቴዎች ተዳቅሇው የተገኘው ዝርያ ከላልች ማወዳዯሪያ ተፈታሽ ዝርያዎች የተሻሇ ውጤት በማስመዝገቡ በብሄራዊ የዝርያ አፅዳቂ ኮሚቴ ተገምግሞ ሇምርት እንዲሇቀቅ ተወስኗሌ፡፡ ይህ ዝርያ ከላልች ዝርያዎች በንፅፅር መጋሸብን በመቋቋሙ፤ የተሻሇ ምርት በመስጠቱ በአርሶአዯሩ ተፈሊጊ ከመሆኑም በሻገር ከዝርያው ባህሪ የተነሳ ሇመስኖ እርሻና በሰብሌ መድረሻ ጊዜ የማጨጃ የእርሻ መሳሪያ መጠቀም ያስችሊሌ፡፡, Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] is extensively cultivated cereal crop in Ethiopia where it is annually grown by about 6.5 million smallholder farmers on about 30% of the total area allocated to cereal crops.However, the productivity of tef is very low compared to other cereals mainly due to lack of high yielding and lodging tolerant cultivars. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the recently released tef variety called Tesfaand to provide unique morphological and agronomic descriptions of this new variety. Ten genotypes which were derived from three independent crosses and bred for at least eight generations plus a local and standard check varieties were tested at six tef growing sites in Ethiopia (namely, Adet, Chafe Donsa,DebreZeit black soil, DebreZeit light soil,Ginchiand Holetta) using RandomizedCompleteBlock Design with three replications. The study found that Tesfa(DZ-Cr-457 RIL-181) which was obtained from a cross between kinde (a semi-dwarf mutant line developed at the University of Bern, Switzerland) and Kay Murri(a landrace) outperformed other genotypes and approved for release by the Ethiopian National Variety Release Committee in March 2017.The main advantages of Tesfa over other tested lines were its higher grain yield and higher lodging tolerance. In addition, Tesfa possesses unique properties for which high acceptance by growers is expected. These are its compact panicle, lack of shattering, and thick and strong culm

Indigenous crops also known as orphan crops are key contributors to food security, which is becoming increasingly vulnerable with the current trend of population growth and climate change. They have the major advantage that they fit well into the general socio-economic and ecological context of developing world agriculture. However, most indigenous crops did not benefit from the Green Revolution, which dramatically increased the yield of major crops such as wheat and rice. Here, we describe the Tef Improvement Project, which employs both conventional- and molecular-breeding techniques to improve tef—an orphan crop important to the food security in the Horn of Africa, a region of the world with recurring devastating famines. We have established an efficient pipeline to bring improved tef lines from the laboratory to the farmers of Ethiopia. Of critical importance to the long-term success of this project is the cooperation among participants in Ethiopia and Switzerland, including donors, policy makers, research institutions, and farmers. Together, European and African scientists have developed a pipeline using breeding and genomic tools to improve the orphan crop tef and bring new cultivars to the farmers in Ethiopia. We highlight a new variety, Tesfa, developed in this pipeline and possessing a novel and desirable combination of traits. Tesfa’s recent approval for release illustrates the success of the project and marks a milestone as it is the first variety (of many in the pipeline) to be released., Euphytica, 214 (2), ISSN:0014-2336, ISSN:1573-5060