Agricultural Mechanization Indicators and Power Requirements of Farming Operations in Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopian agriculture is dominated by a smallholder farming system, where the farmers rely on traditional farming methods, which are labor-intensive and prone to drudgery. Appropriate mechanization should replace human labor in agriculture but, there is a low level of mechanization in the country. Based on this, the study aimed to evaluate agricultural mechanization indicators and power required for farming operations in the Hitosa district, Ethiopia. In this study, a total of 104 (80 farmers and 24 agricultural experts) were selected using multistage sampling techniques. Interviews, observations, and semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect the required data. The agricultural mechanization status of the study area was determined by the degree, level, and capacity of mechanization. The level of mechanization in the study area was 0.281 hp/ha and, to reach 1.5 hp/ha, 264 tractors would be required. The aggregate degrees of mechanization carried out by motorized, human, and draught animal power for wheat were 0.263, 0.068, and 0.17 hp-hr/ha, respectively. The work done by all the power sources, as quantified mechanization indices, were 52 and 64% for wheat and barley respectively. This implies that the levels of agricultural mechanization in the study area are low. Therefore, the appropriate use of mechanization input by the farmers in the Hitosa district is highly encouraged for high agricultural productivity. Hence, the government and different stakeholders should facilitate the mechanization inputs to mechanized farming systems in Hitosa district to ensure food security.

Key Words; Agricultural Mechanization, Mechanization indicators, Mechanization index, Ethiopia