Promotion of Improved Onion (Nafis Variety) Production Technology under Irrigated Conditions in Nyangatom District, Low Land Area of South Omo Zone

Onion is an important cash crop that could enhance the income of agro-pastoralists in Nyangatom woreda as the area has huge potential for water availability from the Omo River and fertile land. However, access to improved onion variety is limited in the area. Thus, this study aimed to demonstrate the improved onion variety with its agronomic management in the production season. Onion growers were purposely selected and have taken training on onion production by using recommended doses of fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, and suitable agronomic practices. Each agro-pastoralist covered 0.064 hectares of land by improved onion. The recorded data from the field experiment and agro-pastoral perceptions were analyzed through simple descriptive and preference ranking tools. From the result of the demonstration trial, the mean bulb yield of the improved onion (Nafis variety) was 125 qt/ha. The average return obtained from the sale of onion bulbs per hectare was 334,925 Ethiopian birr. Moreover, the benefit-to-cost ratio of improved onion production was 8.34:1, which indicates the benefits outweigh the costs, suggesting a positive return on improved onion production in the area. The agro-pastoralist’s preference further showed that the Nafis variety was the best one or superior to the local variety in terms of its high-yielding ability, dark green leaf color, medium bulb size, and market preference. Therefore, the authors suggest the respective government and non-government bodies to further promote improved onion in the area.

洋葱是一种重要的经济作物。尼扬加托姆沃雷达（Nyangatom woreda）区域拥有奥莫河（Omo River）充沛的水资源潜力与肥沃土地，种植洋葱可有效提升当地农牧民的收入。然而，该区域内改良洋葱品种的可及性较为有限。为此，本研究旨在在洋葱生产季示范推广改良洋葱品种及其配套农艺管理技术。研究人员有意选取了洋葱种植户，并针对按照推荐用量施用肥料、农药、开展灌溉及采用适宜农艺措施的标准化洋葱生产技术，对种植户开展了专项培训。每位参与示范的农牧民均种植了0.064公顷的改良洋葱。本研究通过简单描述性统计与偏好排序工具，对田间试验记录数据及农牧民的反馈感知进行了分析。经示范试验结果表明，改良洋葱品种（纳菲斯（Nafis）品种）的平均鳞茎产量为125 qt/ha。每公顷洋葱鳞茎的平均售卖收益为334925埃塞俄比亚比尔（Ethiopian birr）。此外，改良洋葱种植的效益成本比为8.34:1，表明收益高于成本，说明该区域开展改良洋葱种植可获得正向投资回报。农牧民的偏好调研进一步显示，纳菲斯品种因高产性能突出、叶色深绿、鳞茎大小适中且契合市场需求，被认定为优于当地品种的最优选择。因此，本研究建议相关政府与非政府机构在该区域进一步推广改良洋葱品种。