Technical and economic performance of animal-drawn implements for minimum tillage: Experience on Vertisols in Ethiopia

Land degradation is one of the major problems related to low productivity in Ethiopia. Vertisols are potential agricultural lands but are underutilized due to waterlogging during the rainy season and are prone to soil erosion due to the traditional practices of planting crops at the end of the rainy season exposing bare land to heavy rains. An animal-drawn implement, the broadbed maker (BBM), was tested to facilitate drainage of the Vertisols. Improved drainage enables earlier planting of crops to use the resultant prolonged growing period for attaining higher yields. In order to further improve the BBM package, the Frame of the BBM was used for attachment of other implements, to minimize tillage practices and reduce seed and fertilizer rates, labour and animal power requirements and,oil erosion. The attachments v ere tested both on-station and on-farm with positive results.