Abstract:
Background: The study was conducted in 2016 main cropping season in the North Gondar highlands of North Western
Ethiopia. The objectives were to assess the status and to identify constraints of food barley production in the area.
Three districts, namely Dabat, Debark and Wogera, were deliberately selected for this study, since they are the major
barley producing districts of the north Gondar highlands.
Results: Primary data with 180 farmers, focus group and key informant discussions were carried out to collect data.
The collected data were subjected to descriptive statistics and analyzed with SPSS software. The result showed that
95.6% of the farmers grow local food barley showing the great association of this crop with food security of the
households. Nearly half of the respondent farmers (51%) grow only in a quarter of their land. Only 18.3% of the farmers
have access to improved varieties of food barley. According to farmers, the major actor involved in supporting
their barley production is district agriculture office. The majority of the farmers (82%) indicate that area sown to barley
is declining. The major reasons put by focus group discussants and key informants for the declining of barley cultivation
are as follows: shifting to market oriented and cash crops; unavailability of improved varieties of barley; lack of
researchers working in the improvement of barley; declining the fertility of the soil from time to time; declining the
productivity of landraces from time to time.
Conclusion: Therefore, as long as farmers are cultivating barley and the area is potential to the crop, various actors
should be involved to boost production and productivity of the crop through trainings and demonstration plots. The
landraces the farmers kept for generations should be conserved before they lost.
