An Assessment of Extension Approaches for Bacterial Wilt Control with Potato Farmers in Ethiopia

When it comes to food crop computation for the purpose of human consumption worldwide, the potato is the third most important food crop followed after rice and wheat. The production of potato has been adopted across all cultural and social classes. It provides a source of both food and cash income for over a billion people worldwide, which contributing significantly to smallholder potato growers in terms of food security and cash income.

Due to high population growth rate across the globe, and specifically in many countries, the land situation for food crop production particularly for expanding potato production has got challenge in terms of land limitation. Therefore, this has got the attention of subject matter scientist in order to re consider other way to invest in improving the productivity of potato through using technologies.

Ethiopia, is a country of 100 million population in east Africa. The production of potato plays key roles as source of both food and cash income for small scale farmers in densely populated highlands of a country. While the impact evaluation studies show the numerous challenges potato farmers face, including a luck of access to improved high yielding quality seed, seed tubers, and soil with a highly intensive of bacterial disease, as well as a lack of knowledge in Agricultural extension support experts and less investment in skill the potato farmers.

The main objective of the book is to understand the three questions experience with potato farmers, and to provide best fit approaches that must be used by extension workers, and potato crop specialist. The three questions are investigated in this this book. How well are farmers aware of bacteria wilt and the treat it poses to potato production, how eager are farmers to participate in collective/community action to prevent bacterial wilt? how can farmers improve their response to the condition should they rely on local knowledge or scientific recommendation.

The author understands that there are already many excellent researches finding exist, dealing with specialized theory of approach in tackling of bacterial wilt through community collective approach, and regarded as guidance intended purely for government, Academician, and non-government organization who are working on community approach of potato production improvement scheme, and tackling of potato bacterial wilt through community participation.

Furthermore, the focused of the book is how to tackle the bacterial wilt problem in potato production through collective community approach management. Hence the emphases have been made on the investigating farmers understanding of bacterial wilt (BW), knowing farmers willing to engage in collective action and to develop best-fit technical information channels for acquiring and disseminating knowledge on bacterial will management.

The book is intended as a literature review, and further more to streamline reading by a scientific audience, citation is included. I have written up this book in a modest research methodology approaches but not an absolute way, because I know no other single method of research method will seem absolute or convincing. I hope this book also help thesis advisers (with knowledge of range of master’s project in the subject matter) to expend and systematize their thinking and guidance to student who working a master research study.