Ethiopia: Grain and Feed Annual
Ethiopian wheat production for 2019/20 will reach a projected 4.6 million metric tons. This increase is in part due to a new governmental initiative to make the country wheat self-sufficient through supplying required inputs, development of irrigation schemes, promoting mechanization and extension support in semi-arid areas of the country. The wheat production estimate for 2018/19 reached 4.5 million metric tons, which is similar to the official USDA estimate. This is mainly due to good weather conditions, improved input supply, few pests and lower disease pressure. Most of the farmers in wheat growing belts started using mechanized farming systems, especially during harvest. In the past the country has usually imported 30 to 35 percent of the domestic wheat demand with no significant volumes of grain exports due to official export restriction on grains.