Economic analysis of innovation and adoption of vertisol technology: A study of smallholders' mixed farming in the highlands of Ethiopia

Vertisols account for 12.7 million hectares of land in Ethiopia of which 7.6 million hectares are found in the highlands. Vertisols are fertile although they are difficult to cultivatethey are generally hard when dry and sticky when wet and hence present serious limitations to their use. The vertisols exist both in the highlands and lowlands of Ethiopia and by virtue of being moist, valley moist soils have been an important dry season grazing resource. They support the majority of human and livestock population in the highland of Ethiopia. Waterlogging and drainage problems are major constraints. Although traditional farming has developed a wide range of practices based on local knowledge to curb the problem, the economic and technical efficiency of these techniques are not sufficient to allow the full use of the potentials of these soils. Research on the extensive area of vertisols in Ethiopia has been conducted for about 20 years to help resolve the problem. The Joint Vertisol Project (JVP) a team of various disciplines in Ethiopia, has come out with an innovation that comprises of package of vertisol technology which is targeted to draining waterlogged soils to improve the workability and the productivity of the soils in the highlands of Ethiopia. The package include a Broad Bed Maker (BBM), better cropping options and a technology for dry planting. The principal technology that has been developed is the Broad-Bed Maker (BBM) plough, an ox-drawn implement pulled between two traditional plough (maresha) which forms beds and allows water to be drained away through the furrows. This innovation was developed for wide use of smallholders with the full participation of the farmers. It is based on their local knowledge the fully integrated into the small scale farming system of the smallholders. This study presents the case study, conducted at two districts of central Highlands of Ethiopia Tulu Bollo and Gimbichu. The selection of the two districts can be justified among others by the agro-ecological conditions and relative exposure and access to the technology. The principal objective of the study is to assess the economic profitability of the BBM technology package and its dissemination and adoption processes by smallholders. The study employed both primary and secondary data sources. The analysis was conducted using proven econometric and statistical methodsi.e. multiple regression to determine model coefficients, multivariate discriminate analysis and Probit and Tobit models for adoption analysis.