Productivity and profitability of Wheat cropping system in southeastern Ethiopia

Abstract As demand for food is rising, yield is expected to double to feed the 9 billion people in 2050. However, climate change is posing a pressing threat to sustainable food production for the increasing population. Wheat is a strategic crop for food security, and increasing its productivity is vital to ensuring food sufficiency. The dominant cropping system in the southeast Ethiopian highlands is wheat monocropping, which is constrained by the prevalence of yield-reducing factors such as diseases, pests and weeds. We evaluated combinations of crop management options to determine system productivity and profitability for sustainable wheat production. The production factors included in the treatment combinations were tillage type, crop rotation, and weed management options; these factors were applied during alternating (2007, 2009 and 2011) seasons, followed by the main crop (wheat) in the next season (2008, 2010 and 2012). Analysis of variance was performed for yield, weed population and economic parameters and revealed the significant effects of the management factors on wheat yield, weed population density and system profitability. A greater yield was obtained from fallow-retention followed by dry tillage and faba bean rotation. The weed population density was lower in the faba bean and rape seed rotations. All the broad leaf weed species were less than 25%, except for the Galium species, and all the grassy weeds were less than 30%, except for Cyprus species, in both the faba bean and rape seed rotation systems. In addition, Bromus pectinatus and Avena fatua were effectively controlled by rape seed and faba bean rotation, respectively, in the bread wheat production system. Rape seed rotation was the most profitable weed management option for bread wheat production, with a net benefit of 44,559 Ethiopian Birr (ETB)/ha and a net marginal return of 790 ETB/ha, which ensures that farmers receive an additional return of 6.90 ETB from each 1 ETB invested in the rape seed-wheat production system.