Faba bean: another important pulse

Faba bean is ranked first among highland cool-season food legumes in Ethiopia. Some 328,000 tonnes are produced on 350,000 ha (FAO, 1999). The major constraints to increased faba bean production are chocolate spot (Botrytis fabae), ascochyta blight, rust, soilborne diseases, water-logging, cold, and drought.
     The collaborative research on faba bean improvement started when Ethiopia joined the ICARDA/International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Nile Valley Project in 1985. This allowed the Ethiopian national research program to begin field verification of improved faba bean production practices, and take part in research in collaboration with Egypt, Sudan, and ICARDA. With financial support from the World Bank, a full-time ICARDA scientist worked with Ethiopian colleagues for four years from 1986. His job was to lead a vigorous targeted program of research, technology transfer, and training, with technical support from ICARDA scientists.
     Since 1984, ICARDA has provided the Ethiopian national agricultural research system with a large number of breeding lines of faba bean (2039), lentil (894), chickpea (183), and field pea (92). Until the early 1990s, breeding programs in Ethiopia depended mainly on plant selection and crosses of landraces. Most of the commercial varieties available in Ethiopia were developed from local stocks. Since then, however, ICARDA’s collection of faba bean germplasm from around the world has been made available for evaluation and crossing in Ethiopia. The national program has also been strengthened through its participation in evaluations of ICARDA international screening nurseries, selections, and segregating material. Disease resistance testing in Ethiopia identified lines with resistance to chocolate spot and rust (ILB 938, 4615, 4725, and 4726).
     The early use of genetic resources resistant to chocolate spot, either directly or through hybridization with locally adapted lines, resulted in the release of two high-yielding varieties with improved levels of resistance to chocolate spot and rust. The varieties, ‘Shallo,’ released by Sinana Research Center in 1999, and BPL 18021-2, released by Holetta Research Center in 2000, were targeted for the central highlands.
     Before 1985, most improved varieties were tested on research stations managed by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture. Improved agronomic practices were developed through research into optimal seeding rate, planting date, weed management, and fertilizer application. New, locally adapted technologies were developed to improve harvest management and to maintain post-harvest grain quality.
     After 1985, trials were initiated in farmers’ fields under the ICARDA/IFAD Nile Valley Project. Through this effort, improved cultural practices and faba bean lines, such as CS 20 DK for high altitudes and NC 58 for mid altitudes, reached farmers.
     During 1986-92, 61 demonstrations were conducted in mid-altitude areas and 143 in high-altitude areas. The mid-altitude production package, including cultivar NC 58, averaged 1.88 t/ha compared with 1.05 t/ha from local practices, amounting to an average increase of 80%. The high-altitude production packages, including CS 20 DK, yielded 1.2-3.95 t/ha compared with 1.25-2.19 t/ha from local practices. When compared with the local cultivar, yield increments ranged from 30% to 199% (78% mean) over farmers’ packages. The marginal rate of return (MRR) on investment for the NC 58 and CS 20 DK production packages were 337% and 322%, respectively, indicating a high profit margin.
     Dissemination of these new production packages started in 1989 and was economically evaluated with 139 farmers. Yield increases ranged from 33% to 154%. In the country’s central zone, 61% of farmers adopted the recommended improved cultivars, 32% adopted P fertilization, and 60% adopted hand weeding (Telaye and Solh, 1994).
     From 1982 to 1992, improved faba bean germplasm provided average yield advantages of 0.62 t/ha (86%) and 0.57 t/ha (74%) in high and intermediate altitudes, respectively, in central Ethiopia. Income improvement for small-scale farmers was 65% and 61% in the two areas, respectively. The monetary gain represented 330% and 337% of the additional technology costs, respectively. In large-scale demonstration fields in 1989 and 1990, average yield advantage of 0.68 t/ha (64%) was recorded, corresponding to about 60% improvement in farmers’ incomes.
    Will farmers adopt these new packages? An earlier farmer survey in Shewa region found that, from the faba bean package made available, 52% adopted the improved cultivar, while 56% adopted management practices, such as weed control. Only 8% adopted the fertilizer recommendations.