ASSESSMENT OF FARMERS’ PERCEPTIONS CONCERNING POTATO FARMING SYSTEMS IN NORTH WESTERN ETHIOPIA

Aim of the study Assessing the perception of north western Ethiopia farmers’ on the role of potato in the farming system Material and methods: Elders with different socioeconomic back grounds and experience on potato production were used for this study. A proportional allocation formula was employed. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources of data were collected. The questionnaire constituted open ended questions to allow full expression about the issue. Discussions were made with farmers, agricultural extension officers, researchers, and potato experts. All sets of data were subjected to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 24 computer software (20) and descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation and frequency were used to analyze the collected data. Class intervals were used to analyze descriptive statistics for age, education level, family size, etc. Results and conclusions: The survey also revealed that farmers use potato in soil fertility management, had their own local varieties and different variety preferences. They were losing such local potato varieties which had different quality attributes to be used in different breeding/agronomy programmes and best fit to degraded lands. More frequency of ploughing causes soil and nutrient erosion. The study also revealed that there were traditional techniques of soil fertility management like terracing, fertilization and crop rotation mainly with potato. Farmers in the surveyed area believed that potato can ameliorate the fertility of the soil and protect soils from erosion. Researches should be conducted to minimize number of ploughing in potato production.