Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research

ለተቋሙ አዲስ ዋና ዳይሬክተር ተሾመ +++++++++++++++++++++++++ የኢትዮጵያ የግብርና ምርምር ኢንስቲትዩት የኢፌዲሬ የጠቅላይ ሚኒስቴር ፅ/ቤት ለኢትዮጵያ የግብርና ምርምር ኢንሰቲትዩት አዲስ ዋና ዳይሬክተር ሾመ። የኢፌዲሬ የጠቅላይ ሚኒስቴር ፅ/ቤት ከጥቅምት 1 ቀን 2017 ዓ.ም. ጀምሮ ፕሮፌሰር ንጉሴ ደቻሳ ሮቢን የኢትዮጵያ የግብርና ምርምር ኢንስቲትዩት ዋና ዳይሬክተር ሆነው የተሾሙ መሆኑን አስታውቋል። The Prime Minister's office of FDRE appointed a new Director General (DG) for Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR). The PM Office appointed Professor Nigussie Dechassa Robi's as DG for EIAR. The PM office of Ethiopia has appointed Prof. Nigussie Dechassa to the Institute, beginning Oct. 10, 2024.

ACIAR Conducted a Project Review Workshop in Ethiopia Hosted by EIAR *********************************** EIAR, From October 9 to 11, 2024 The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) conducted a project review workshop in Ethiopia from October 9 to 11, 2024. The event hosted by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research took place at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) in Hiruy Hall. The workshop focused on "Faba Bean in Ethiopia – Mitigating Disease Constraints to Improve Productivity and Sustainability." The project, which has been supported by ACIAR from 2017 to 2024, aims to address significant challenges faced by faba bean farmers in Ethiopia, particularly concerning faba bean gall diseases caused by Physoderma vacia that impact faba bean production .In this workshop partners of the project from Australia, ICARDA and Ethiopia (both from National and regional research centers), MOA extension directorate, governmental and non-governmental institutes, exporters, farmers from seed producer unions and stalkholders from diferent institutes were participated. Dr. Asnakech Tekalign Co-PI of the project welcomed participants to the workshop and provided an overview of the 3-day final project review. The event is crucial for presenting key project achievements to stakeholders and the review panel, with sessions available both face-to-face and online. She highlighted the project's four main objectives aimed at addressing the challenges posed by Faba Bean Gall (FBG) disease in Ethiopia.

በሰብል ዘር ስርዓት ላይ ውይይት ተካሄደ ++++++++++++++++ የኢትዮጵያ የግብርና ምርምር ኢንስቲትዩት መስከረም 29/2017 ዓ/ም አዲስ አበባ በኢትዮጵያ ሃይብሪድ የዘር ስርዓት በተለይም በማሽላ የዘር ስርዓት ላይ ያተኮረ ውይይት የኢፌዴሪ ግብርና ሚኒስቴር ሚንስትር ዶ/ር ግርማ አመንቴ፤ የዓለም የምግብ ኖቬል ተሸላሚ የሆኑት ሎሬት ፕ/ር ጋቢሳ ኤጀታ እና ሌሎች የግብርና ዘርፍ አመራሮች እና ሳይንቲስቶች በተገኙበት በኢትዮጵያ የግብርና ምርምር ኢንስቲትዩት ሕሩይ አዳራሽ ተካሄደ፡፡ የእንኳን ደህና መጣችሁ መልእክት በማስተላለፍ ስብሰባውን ያስጀመሩት የኢትዮጵያ የግብርና ምርምር ኢንስቲትዩት ዋና ዳይሬክተር ዶ/ር ፈቶ ኢስሞ ዘር ለግብርናው ዘርፍ መጎልበት እጅጉን አስፈላጊ መሆኑን አስገንዝበው ውይይቱም እዚህ ላይ ያተኮረ መሆኑ በቀጣይ የሚኖረው ሚና ከፍተኛ ነው ብለዋል፡፡ በሁነቱ ላይ የመክፈቻ ንግግር ያደረጉት የኢፌዴሪ ግብርና ሚኒስቴር ሚንስትር ዶ/ር ግርማ አመንቴ የግብርናውን ዘርፍ ሚና ለማሻገር ይህ መድረክ በጣም ወሳኝ ነው ሲሉ የዘር እሴት ሰንሰለትን በተመለከተ በርካታ ስራ መሰራት ያለበት ሲሆን ለዚህ ደግሞ የምርምር ሚና በተለይ ቴክኖሎጂ በማፍለቅ፤ በማላመድ እና በማስተዋወቅ ረገድ ከፍተኛ ነው ብለዋል፡፡ ዶ/ር ግርማ በተጨማሪም ፕ/ር ጋቢሳ ኤጀታ በአሜሪካ የሚሊዮኖች አርሶ አደሮችን ህይወት የቀየረ ስራ ሰርተዋል በኢትዮጵያም በዛው ልክ እንዲሆን በቀጣይ ጠንክሮ በመስራቱ ላይ ሁሉም የበኩሉን መወጣት አለበት ለዚህም የዛሬው መድረክ መልካም አጋጣሚ ነው ሲሉ አበክረው ተናግረዋል፡፡ በመቀጠልም በተለይ በማሽላ ምርምር እና ውጤት የዓለም የምግብ ኖቬል ተሸላሚና እንደዚሁም የሌሎች በርካታ ዓለም አቀፍ ሽልማቶች ባለቤት የሆኑት ሎሬት ፕ/ር ጋቢሳ ኤጀታ በንግግራቸው ለግብርናው ዘርፍ መጎልበት የአሜሪካን እና ሌሎች ያደጉ ሃገራትን ተሞክሮ በመጥቀስ ሳይንስ እና ቴክኖሎጂ ወሳኝ መሆኑን አፅንዖት በመስጠት አሰገንዝበዋል፡፡ ከሳይንስ እና ቴክኖሎጂ ጋር የተናበበ የሰው ሃይልም አስፈላጊ ነው ብለዋል፡፡ በተጨማሪም የሃይብሪድ ዘር ስርዓት በአሜሪካ ከተጀመረ ረጅም ዓመታት ያስቆጠረ ሲሆን አርሶ አደሮችን በከፍተኛ ሁኔታ ተጠቃሚ ያደረገ ስለመሆኑ ተናግረዋል፡፡ በመጨረሻም ከፔርዱ ዩኒቨርስቲ፣ ከግብርና ምርምር እና ከሌሎች ተቋማት በተውጣጡ ተመራማሪዎች ገለጻ ቀርቦ በወደፊት አቅጣጫ ላይ ሰፊ ውይይት ተደርጎ የእለቱ ስብሰባ ተጠናቋል፡፡

OFAB Organized Media Award Ceremony (OMA) in Ethiopia. ********************************************************* EIAR/October 1, 2024 On October 1, 2024, the OFAB chapter in Ethiopia organized a media award ceremony to recognize and celebrate excellence in science reporting in agricultural biotechnology by journalists. During the award ceremony, three journalists who scored highest from each category of TV, radio, and print were awarded recognition, a certificate, and financial incentives for the best reporting based on OFAB media award evaluation criteria. The event was officially opened by the warm welcome speech of Dr. Dejene Girma, the director of agricultural biotechnology research at EIAR, and the actual award ceremony was kicked off by the charming remarks of Dr. Feto Esimo, the director general of EIAR. Accordingly, Mrs. Chaltu Gololcha from EBC for the TV category, Mr. Henok Bekele from Fana BC for the radio, and Mrs. Yordanos Yosef from the Reporter newspaper for the print category won the first rank in the 2024 OMA. Chaltu became the overall winner for the best reporting on the impacts of biotechnology products on farmers and rural youth in Ethiopia. There were more than 30 media reports submitted for competition and evaluated based on the eligibility criteria. On the same event, the Best Media House award was given to EBC for the highest contribution for biotechnology communication in Ethiopia. There was also recognition for 9 previous OMA winners who still keep on reporting and producing the best media products. They are given certificates of appreciation and gifts from OFAB as they keep on championing agbiotech journalism in Ethiopia. It was recognized and learned from the award ceremony that media reports selected for the award showed that biotechnology products are making impacts on farmers and youth’s livelihoods and income. In the event organized to celebrate the OMA-2024, more than 60 key participants drawn from different key institutions attended the event, of which half were new journalists invited to attend the event. As part of updating and networking for the new journalists joining the OFAB platform, three high level presentations were made to update on the global, regional, and national level efforts in the area of biotechnology. The three updates were: Agbiotech Research and Development in Ethiopia by Dejene Girma (PhD),, director of Agbiotech research in EIAR Biotechnology, Global Trends, and Prospects in Ethiopia by Prof. Kassahun Tesfaye, Director General of BETin Enhancing STI in Africa: The Case of Biotechnology by Prof. Firew Mekbib, President of ESoB The event was finally concluded with a panel discussion led by Prof. Tiliye Feyisal from Addis Ababa University, Dean of the College of Natural Sciences, and Prof. Firew Mekib.

2023 U.S. National Medal of Science winner Prof. Gebisa Ejeta delivered remarks to scientists from The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), CGIAR, U. S. Mission to the African U.S. Mission to the African Union, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research,Ministry of Agriculture - Ethiopia, and African Union during a seminar on “Harnessing Science, Technology, Innovation, and Policy to Adapt to Climate Change, Achieve Food Security, and Advance Economic Development in Africa.” Boosting climate adaptation through innovative applications of science and technology is central to our mission across Africa.

ተቋሙ 3ኛውን የብሄራዊ የእንጉዳይ ቀን አዘጋጀ ++++++++++++++++++++ 14 /10/2016 ዓ.ም. የኢትዮጵያ የግብርና ምርምር ኢንስቲትዩት 3ኛው ብሄራዊ የእንጉዳይ ቀን በየኢትዮጵያ የግብርና ምርምር ኢንስቲትዩት አዘጋጅነት በተቋሙ ቅጥር ግቢ ውስጥ “እንጉዳይ የምግብ ዋስትናን ለማረጋገጥና ለስራ ፈጠራ” በሚል መሪ ቃል በደማቅ ስነ ስርዓት ተከብሯል። በየኢትዮጵያ የግብርና ምርምር ኢንስቲትዩት የግብርና ባዮቴክኖሎጂ ምርምር ዳይሬክተር የሆኑት ዶ/ር ደጀኔ ግርማ የመክፈቻ ንግግር ያደረጉ ሲሆን በንግግራቸውም ከአንደኛው ብሄራዊ የእንጉዳይ ቀን አከባበር ጀምሮ ብሄራዊ የግብርና ቴክኖሎጂ የስነ-ረቂቅ ምርምር ፕሮግራም በዚህ ዓመት ውስጥ በአከናወነው ስራ እጅግ ደስተኛ መሆናቸውን ገልፀው ፕሮግራሙ ትኩረት ሰጥቶ ከሚሰራቸው ውስጥ ለዜጎች የስራ እድል ለመፍጠር እና የውጭ ምንዛሬ ለማግኘት ያስችላል ብለዋል። ዶ/ር ደጀኔ አክለውም አንደኛው የብሄራዊ የእንጉዳይ ቀን ሲከበር በተቋሙ ስር በሆነው ብሄራዊ የግብርና ባዮቴክኖሎጂ ምርምር ማዕከል ብሄራዊ የእንጉዳይ ቀንን ማክበርን ጨምሮ በሀገሪቱ ያለውን የእንጉዳይ ምርትና ልማትን እንዲያስተባብር ሀላፊነት የወሰደበት ቀን እንዲሁም በእንጉዳይ አጠቃቀምና አመራረት ዙርያ ለተለያዩ የባለድርሻ አካላት ለሰባት ቀናት የተግባር ስልጠና የተሰጠበት ዕለት ነበር ሲሉ ገልፀዋል። በሁለተኛው የብሄራዊ የእንጉዳይ ቀን አከባበር ደግሞ የብሄራዊ የግብርና ባዮቴክኖሎጂ ምርምር ማዕከል ግቢ ውስጥ የተገነባው የእንጉዳይ የስልጠና ዩኒት የተመረቀ ሲሆን የተለያዩ የባለድርሻ አካላት የተሳተፉበት “Atlas of Mushrooms: Global Vesrus Ethiopia” የተባለ መፅሐፍ የተመረቀበት ዕለት እንደነበር አስታውሰዋል። የዘንድሮው 3ኛው ብሄራዊ የእንጉዳይ ቀን ሲከበር በእንጉዳይ አመራረትና አጠቃቀም ዙርያ፣ ግብይት ፣እድሎችና ተግዳሮቶች በመወያየት ለመጪው ግዜ አቅጣጫ ማስቀመጥና የተለያዩ የባለድርሻ አካላት የእንጉዳይ ምርቶቻቸውን ለእይታ ለማቅረብ ያለመ ነው ሲሉ ጨምረው ተናግረዋል። የብሄራዊ ባዮቴክኖሎጂ ምርምር ማዕከል ዳይሬክተር ዶ/ር ለታ ቱሉ በበኩላቸው የምርምር ማዕከሉ እንደ የልህቀት ማዕከል ሆኖ የምርምር መነሻ ቴክኖሎጂ ለተጠቃሚዎች እየሰጠና ለግል አምራቾችም አቅም እየገነባ መሆኑን ተናግረዋል። በዕለቱም የዘርፉ የባለድርሻ አካላት የሆኑት የኢትዮጵያ ስኳር ኢንዱስትሪ ፣የኢትዮጵያ ብዝሀ ህይወት ኢንስቲትዩት፣ ዋጊኖስ ባዮቴክ ሀላፊነቱ የተወሰነ የግል ኩባንያ፣ ብራይት ሆርን አፍሪካ የእንጉዳይ ምርቶቻቸውን ለእይታ አቅርበዋል።

በተቋሙ በማክሮ ኢኮኖሚ እቅድ እና የ9 ወራት እቅድ አፈጻጸም ላይ ውይይት ተደረገ +++++++++++++++++++ ሰኔ 13 ቀን 2016 ዓ.ም. የኢትዮጵያ የግብርና ምርምር ኢንስቲትት ሰራተኞች እና የስራ ሃለፊዎች የተቋሙ የበላይ አመራሮች በተገኙበት የሃገሪቱን የማክሮ ኢኮኖሚ እቅድ አፈጻጸም እንደዚሁም በተቋሙ የዘጠኝ ወራት እቅድ አፈጻጸም ሊይ ውይይት አደረጉ፡፡ የተቋሙ ምክትል ዋና ዳይሬክተር ክቡር ዶ/ር ድሪባ ገለቲ መድረኩን የከፈቱ ሲሆን እንደ ሃገር የ10 ወራት የማክሮ ኢኮኖሚ አፈጻጸም እና እንደ ተቋም ደግሞ የ9 ወራት አፈጻጸም የሚቀርብ መሆኑን ገልጸው መድረኩን ለገለጻ ክፍት አድረገዋል፡፡ በቅድሚያ በኢፌዴሪ የፕላንና ልማት ሚኒስትር ክብርት ዶ/ር ፍጹም አሰፋ በተለይ የግብርናውን ዘርፍ አስመልክተው የሰጡት ገለጻ ለታዳሚው በቪዲዮ የቀረበ ሲሆን በዘርፉ የተከናወኑ ዋና ዋና ተግባራት ላይ ገለጻ አድርገዋል፡፡ በመቀጠል የተቋሙን የዘጠኝ ወራት አፈጻጸም ያቀረቡት የተቋሙ የምርምር ጥራት ማረጋገጫ ዳይሬክተር የሆኑት ዶ/ር በድሩ በሽር ሲሆኑ በዋና ዋና ጉዳዮች ላይ ለምሳሌ የምርምር ሙከራዎች አፈጻጸም፤የቴክኖሎጂና መረጃ አቅርቦት አፈጻጸም፤ የቴክኖሎጂ ብዜት ስራዎች፤ የህግ አገልግሎት ስራ አፈጻጸም፤የኢንፎርሜሽን ቴክኖሎጂ፤ በሰው ሃይል ልማት፤ በስራ እድል ፈጠራ ፤ በስርዓተ ጾታና ኤች አይ ቪ ኤድስ፤ እና ባለብዙ ዘርፍ ስራዎች አፈጻጸም ዙሪያ ገለጻ የተብራራ ገለጻ ቀረቡ ሲሆን በ2017 ዓ.ም. የሚከናወኑ ዋና ዋና ተግባራትንም ገለጸዋል፡፡ በመጨረሻም ውይይት የተካሄደ ሲሆን በተለይ ከሌሎች የስራ ክፍሎች ያልተካተቱ ወሳኝ አፈጻጸሞች እንዲካተቱ እንደዚሁም ከ9 ወራት በኋላ የተከናወኑ በርካታ ተግባራት በመኖራቸው እንዲካተቱ አስተያቶች ቀርበው እና ሰፊ ማብራሪያ በተቋሙ ምክትል ዋና ዳይሬክተር ክቡር ዶ/ር ድሪባ ገለቲ እና ሌሎች የበላይ አመራሮች ተስጥቶቷል፡፡ በተጨማሪም ወሳኝ የሆኑ የመንግስት የ2017 ዓ/ም አቅጣጫዎችንም በተለይ የዕቅድ ዝግጅት ጊዜ ገደብ እስከ ሰኔ 30 2016 ዓ/ም መሆኑን፤ የከተማ ግብርናን በተመለከተ፤ ከምግብ ዋስትና አኳያ ምን ሊሰሩ እንደሚገባ፤ከአረንጓዴ አሻራ እና የመሳሰሉትን ለታዳሚው በዶ/ር ድሪባ ገለቲ ገለጻ ተደርጎ ሁሉም ለተያዘው አቅጣጫ የበኩሉን ለማበርከት መዘጋጀት እንዳለበትም አበክረው አስገንዝበዋል፡፡

The EIAR and AGRA jointly held a workshop ************************************** EIAR/June 8, 2024 The EIAR, together with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), organized an inception and planning workshop on "increased access and availability of early-generation seed of flagship commodities and climate-smart and nutrient-dense varieties" at the Nexus Hotel in Addis Ababa. In his opening remarks, speaking on behalf of the DDG of the EIAR, Dr. Chilot Yrga said this project is about providing quality seed to farmers. Addressing the need to fill the existing gap, he stated that the formal seed sector caters for a few commodities like maize and wheat, which are profitable but are not being addressed; there is a void to be filled by other stakeholders. Moreover, he noted that filling this gap relies on the research systems of both EIAR and ARARI. Speaking at the workshop, AGRA's country director, Dr. Yihenew Zewudie, elucidated that AGRA has been an important partner of Ethiopia's agriculture and its research systems since its establishment in 2006. In addition, through the wide range of academic sponsorship programs that AGRA funded, the agricultural research systems in Ethiopia have been among the major beneficiaries. In recent years, AGRA has supported the EIAR and the regional agricultural institutes with respect to providing institutional capacity building, with a particular focus on enabling various research centers, including the EIAR, to carry out early-generation seed production effectively. He also cited that the AGRA has launched its third strategy, AGRA Strategy 3.0. The country director expressed that the AGRA believes in the importance of investing in the production and supply of good-quality seed as a foundation for a self-sustained agricultural investment, adding that about 10% of the AGRA's multi-year budget under the current strategy is going to be used for the purpose of supporting EGS such as sorghum, faba bean, rice, and soybean. "AGRA support is expected to be catalytic in the sense that whatever we provide in the form of support is expected to initiate interest and provide impetus for others to actively take part. No country has transformed the agricultural sector through projects alone. Therefore, using this work as an entry point, we should give further thoughts on how EGS investments generate better social returns and become self-sustaining," the country director remarked. The event brought together regional agricultural institutes, agricultural research centers, and the Ministry of Agriculture. Lastly, the workshop concluded with discussion and a planning session.

A Field Visit and Professionals’ Discussion on Enset Bacterial wilt disease is held at Wolkite Agricultural Research Center *************************************************************** EIAR/Welkite/June 7, 2024 A field visit and professional discussion on the current epidemic status of Enset bacterial wilt disease kicked off at Wolkite Agricultural Research Centre (WARC). Enset, a multi-purpose crop inherited with drought resistance and food and nutrition- resilience, which can also be mentioned as a non-crop with waste by-products without values, is currently being affected by bacterial wilt disease, especially in the Central Region of Ethiopia. Due to the devastation caused by the disease, it is necessary to hold a professional discussion on the status of a bacterial wilt disease and the way forward as EIAR/WARC initiates it. During the visit, professionals’ discussions, reflections, and thoughtful suggestions on the field were also forwarded, especially by HE Ato Lacha Garuma, head administrator of Gurage Zone, who stressed that Enset is beyond food security and is rather an emerging cash crop for more than 20 million people in the South West and Oromia regions, where due consideration must be given by different stakeholders to protect it from the pathogen, create possible processing and post-harvest handling mechanisms, and enhance its productivity. Following that, different topics were discussed. For example, topics entitled Why Enset? and "Enset is more than a tree against Hanger" by Dr. Mekuria Tadesse, Director of Research System Coordination Office (RESCO), EIAR. Professor Tesfaye Alemu, a pathologist at Addis Ababa University, shares his experiences managing coffee wilt disease with biocontrol and discusses lessons to be learnt for Enset wilt disease. Professor Ketema Bacha from Jimma University gave an explanation of Enset microbiology and the function of rhizosphere microbiomes. Finally, after a field visit, different presentations and professional discussions were held on the Enset bacterial wilt disease and the way forward, as it was concluded that all stakeholders should give due consideration to discharge their duty to protect Enset, and its farming system, and enhance productivity.

A meeting on Early-Generation Seed Innovation kicks off ****************************************************** EIAR/May 30, 2024 A meeting on early-generation seed innovation with the theme "Narrowing the Demand and Supply Gaps" was hosted by the Technology Multiplication and Seed Research Directorate of EIAR at the institute's premises, Hiruy Hall. Presenting a paper entitled "digitization of EGS production and marketing: implications for addressing realistic demands," Director of Technology Multiplication and Seed Research at EAIR, Dr. Karta Kalsa, said that the prime importance of the EGS system is to solve the gap between supply and demand. According to him, digital seed market platforms could reduce the mismatch between demand and supply of seeds and help with quicker variety replacement. Mentioning the significance of decision support systems, Dr. Karta explained that a Farm Management Information System (FMIS) enables reducing production costs and maintaining high seed quality. Georeferenced registration of farm sites and field blocks; farm activity workflow management; maintaining temporal weather and soil information for farm sites; tracking; and collecting and analyzing georeferenced field monitoring data are among the core functions of the EIAR-FMIS, he added. During the meeting convened yesterday, two additional papers conducted on EGS were also presented by senior researchers drawn from GIZ and EIAR. Finally, the meeting culminated with group discussion and reflection sessions.