Why Has a Single Rice Cultivar Dominated the Lowland Rice Production Portfolio of Ethiopia for so Long?

Rice is becoming an enterprise of choice in the Ethiopian farming system. The Fogera plain accounts for 68% of the area and 71% of the production of rice in the country. This paper attempts to explain why a single cultivar called ‘X-Jigna’ has dominated the lowland rice production portfolio of the Fogera plain in the country for more than 30 years and pinpoints the lessons that these inform to the national rice breeding program. X-Jigna was introduced from North Korea and adopted and recommended by Korean scientists in mid-1980s. Rice adoption study (2016-2017) in the Fogera plain showed more than 81% X-Jigna cultivation. Despite its long time deployment into the production, it has been showing good performance in terms of grain yield, biomass yield with good palatability, good disease reaction, phenotypic acceptability, good tillering capacity, and white caryopsis color. Furthermore, the cultivar has a long and well-exerted panicle, uniform stand, good physical quality, acceptability, and wider utilization. In addition, farmers describe its quality in terms of high flour density ‘wuha yanesal’ and softness stay of the enjera. Generally, farmers describe X-Jigna as a variety that fulfills most of their important traits. The national breeding program developed at least six lowland rice improved varieties for the Fogera plain to replace X-Jigna. However, the replacement rate of the old varieties is quite low as evidenced by the high adoption rate and longtime cultivation of X-Jigna. The breeding program needs to stop by and question why this happened and the journey undergone to come here. One of the critical issues that can be learned from the over years of engagement of the breeding program is that it has followed a trait-based improvement approach to deploy new varieties, which led to the low adoption of new varieties. As a way forward, the breeding program has to be demand-driven and product-oriented.

水稻正成为埃塞俄比亚农业种植体系中的首选作物。福格拉平原（Fogera Plain）的水稻种植面积占全国总面积的68%，产量占全国总产量的71%。本文旨在阐释单一品种‘X-吉格纳（X-Jigna）’何以能在该国福格拉平原的低地水稻生产中占据主导地位长达三十余年，并提炼出可供国家水稻育种项目借鉴的经验启示。X-吉格纳于20世纪80年代中期从朝鲜引入，经朝鲜科学家推广并审定推荐。2016-2017年在福格拉平原开展的水稻种植调研显示，当地超过81%的稻田种植该品种。尽管该品种已推广应用多年，但其在籽粒产量、生物量产量、适口性、抗病性、表型认可度、分蘖能力以及颖果洁白色泽等方面仍表现优异。此外，该品种具有修长且充分伸出的穗型、整齐一致的株型、优良的商品品质、较高的市场认可度与广泛的应用场景。农户还评价其面粉密度较高（当地称之为"wuha yanesal"），且制成的英吉拉（enjera）口感软糯持久。总体而言，农户认为X-吉格纳能够满足其多数重要的性状需求。国家水稻育种项目已针对福格拉平原培育出至少六个低地水稻改良品种，以期替代X-吉格纳。然而从该品种的高普及率与长期种植情况来看，这些新改良品种的替代率仍极低。育种项目亟需反思这一现状及其背后的发展历程。从该育种项目多年的实践中可总结出一项关键问题：其此前采用基于性状的改良策略推广新品种，这直接导致新品种的普及率偏低。为此，育种项目需转向需求导向与产品导向的研发模式。