Pre-Extension Demonstration of Black Cumin Technologies in Goro and Ginnir Districts of Bale and East Bale Zones Southeastern Oromia

Pre-extension demonstration of improved black cumin technologies was carried out in Goro and Ginnir districts. The new variety Urgessa was demonstrated and evaluated against the standard check Gemechis where plot size of 10*10 m was used for each variety. Row planting was applied using seed rate of 12 kg /ha and fertilizer (NPS) rate of 100 kg/ha. Yield data, number of farmers participated on training and mini field days, production costs and farmers’ feedback were collected using field observation, check list, and focus group discussion. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze quantitative data. Cost-benefit analysis was used for profitability analysis. Awareness creation activities like training and mini field days were arranged for target beneficiaries and other stakeholders. Combined yield evaluation was carried out in which Urgessa gave higher seed yield of 13.84 qt/ha while Gemechis gave 11.73 qt/ha. Direct matrix ranking was used to rank black cumin varieties. Consequently, farmers gave the higher score for Urgessa variety. The result of pair wise ranking indicated that farmers gave high attention for traits of yield, number of branch per plant and number of capsule per plant. The result of profitability analysis also revealed that the farmer who prefers to produce Urgessa variety could get an extra net benefit of 24,360.00 ETB/ha than who prefers to produce Gemechis variety in single production season. Therefore, based on farmers’ preference and profitability analysis, Urgessa variety is recommended for pre-scaling up.