Does Improved Wheat Seed Adoption Benefit Farmers? Empirical Evidence from Southern Tigrai Ethiopia

Abstract

Agriculture in Ethiopia yet bases on small scale farming is experiencing frequent drought. The study examines, does improved wheat seed adoption benefit farmer’s wheat yield or not in Ofla woreda, Tigrai?. A primary data sources from a survey of random sample 300 small scale farm households were gathered. Of which 100 were certified wheat seed adoptor farmers and the remaining 200 were non users. In dealing with propensity score matching (PSM) was applied. The average treatment effects on the treated (ATT) result revealed that improved wheat seed adoptor household’s earn 35 to 54 quintal of wheat yield per hectare at a cost of plowing 9,400 Birr larger in a single production year compared to non adoptors earn below 18 quintal at a cost of Birr 7,000. Adoption of certified wheat seed complementary with other packages is more recommendable to enhance wheat yield at small scale level.

Keywords: Adoption, certified wheat seed, impact, Ofla, PSM, technology, wheat yield. 1.