Impact of Climate Variability on Tef(eragrostis Tef) in Crv, Ethiopia : Understanding tef crop response to water in Central rift valley dryland areas, Ethiopia

Climate variability and associated risks in the Central Rift Valley (CRV) of Ethiopia put farmers under fragile situations. Although tef (Eragrostis tef) is an important cereal crop in Ethiopia, crop responses to water studies are scanty. Thus, ETc and Kc of three tef varieties determined and long-term climatic conditions of three tef growing areas viz. Alemtena, Debre Zeit and Melkassa analyzed. Seasonal ETc 289.5, 378.5 and 387mm, recorded for DZ-Cr-37, DZ-01-196 and DZ-01-354, respectively. The pooled Kc values were 0.3, 1.0, 1.2 and 0.7 for initial, development, mid-season and late-season stages, respectively. The studied sites receive rainfall from March to May and from June to September which contributes 18-32% and 66-73% to the annual rainfall, respectively. The mean length of the growing period extends from 98-114 and is highly variable. The seasonal effective rainfall failed to meet the ETc of 100 days maturity tef varieties in 40-43% of the seasons at Alemtena and Melkassa. It was concluded that analysis of long-term climate data using crop specific coefficients would help to provide better advice in designing appropriate crop management practices and to minimize risk.