SNNPR: Over 100mln drought-resilient ‘enset’ saplings being planted

Addis Ababa, April 3, 2023 (FBC) – The Southern Ethiopia Region Agriculture Bureau stated that during the ‘Belg’ (Ethiopian autumn) season of the current fiscal year, more than 100 million drought-resilient ‘enset’ saplings are being planted on 50,251 hectares of land.

Nebiyu Beza, Director of Communication of the Bureau, said that Enset is vital in ensuring food security in the region and in the country at large.

He also stated that by burying 1,500,028 roots of the enset tree, it is planned to get more than 100 million tree saplings from this tree and it is being propagated.

Nebiyu indicated that 406,619 farmers in the region will participate in the planting.

The official stated that the Gedeo zone is different from others in the region and is moving with a plan to plant more than 40 million saplings on 20 thousand hectares of land.

He mentioned that the Wolaita zone has also started to work, and 24.9 million saplings have been propagated on 12 thousand 464 hectares of land and they are moving to plant them on farmers’ fields.

The director told Fana Broadcasting Corporate’s Yeshambel Mihret that Gofa Zone is moving to plant 2 million saplings on 1,000 hectares of land.

Nebiyu, who explained that autumn is the best time to plant safflower seedlings, explained that safflower is used for food and the leaves are used for animal fodder.