The State of Eritrea

Ministry of Agriculture Newsletter

A Monthly Newsletter prepared by the Public Relations Division, Issue No 37, July 2021

Ministries of Agriculture and Marine Resources
Jointly Promote Bio-fertilizers and Bio-pesticides
The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA)
is making considerable efforts toimprove production of organic food
through promoting bio-fertilizers (BF)
and bio-pesticides (BP). Even though
the MoA has carried out a number ofinterventions for promoting natural
pesticides and fertilizers over several
years, the impact was not promising
until 2020. In early 2021, the MoA,
along with the Ministry of Marine
Resources (MoMR), began the processof introducing BF and BP. Relevant
experts from various sectors, including
the private sector, came together toestablish a technical committee onFebruary 11, 2021.

have become accustomed to agrochemicals to control plant pests,
diseases, and weeds, the shift has
been a bit challenging. Notably, after
the establishment of the technicalcommittee, fish by-catch and seaweed
are being used mainly for BF and tosome extent as BP.

Mr. Dermas, while outlining thegeneral tasks of the committee,
stressed on the following points;
drawing the country’s potential map
on the availability of raw materials;
preparing BF and BP using locallyavailable materials and testing theproducts in laboratories and carryout trials; producing promotional
According to Mr. Dermas Sultan, reference materials and guidelines;
chairperson of the technical identifying potential farmers andcommittee and also a soil researcher institutions for piloting the BF and BP
at the National Agricultural Research materials.
Institute (NARI), the general objectiveof the initiative is to contribute to In a discussion about the committee,producing safe and nutritious food Mr. Dermas briefly described somethroughenvironmentally-friendly,socially acceptable, and economicallyfeasible agricultural production
practices.
Mr. Dermas noted that the MoA has
been working in various capacity
development programs to introduce
and expand organic farming andcomposting. Largely as a result of
these efforts, the number of farmers
who use compost and natural
fertilizers has increased steadily. At
the same time, however, since mostEritrean farmers utilize chemicalfertilizers to improve their yield and1Mr. Dermas Sultanof its progress, explaining, “Thetechnical committee is divided into
two sub-committees: the BF and BP
teams. These sub-committees haveconducted pilot tests with somefarmers. Members of the committee
have so far produced more than 200
litres of fish amino acid (FAA) andseaweed extract (SWE) and about 840
litres of neem-pepper-aloe extract.
The extracts were distributed tofarmers in four regions of the country
for trials.
Bio-pesticide initiatives
The BP group, which is responsible forpromoting biological pesticides, hasbeen working to identify resources
and introduce pesticide production.
According to Ms. Leula Mekonen,
chair of the BP sub-committee anddirector of the Plant Protection Unitat the MoA, the core objective of theinitiative is to promote Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) and reduce theuse of chemical pesticides. She assertsthat the use of BP is not common inEritrea, even though BP are made up

of botanical and microbial elements
commonly found in the country
and could be a useful alternative toconventional pesticides. Notably,
neem-based pesticides, widely used
for agricultural pest management,
are the most important and common
botanical pesticides.
Ms. Leula further explained that
introducing the new BP’s andpromoting them to the farming
community is one of the leading
objectives of the BP sub-committee.
She announced that around 840 litresof neem-aloe-chili pepper extract(botanical pesticide) have been
produced as part of a pilot project
and later distributed to four regions
for demonstration in farmers’ fields.
The plant materials were collectedfrom Himbrti (Central Region), as well
as Laelay Dengolo and Ghindae (bothin the Northern Red Sea Region). The
collected neem leaves of Azadiracta
indica (from the lowland area) areused as a bio-pesticide in many
countries. According to Ms. Leula,a reference manual that includes
material on BP preparation andapplication methods has also been
produced by the sub-committee.
Furthermore, she noted that its shelflife and rate of application are understudy in NARI. When it comes toresearch findings, the concentrationof the neem leaf extract has beenfound to be weaker compared toserious health risks to human beingsand does not kill beneficial bugs.
When applied on crops, its strong
pungent odor prevents the pests fromattacking the plants and laying eggs.
Two solutions of garlic with kerosene
and vinegar extracts were preparedand their efficacy on whiteflies andother insects is under review. Although
it is a bit early, promising results havebeen observed.
Ms. Leula Mekonen

Finally Ms. Leula outlined that futureneem oil extract (neem seed extract). tasks for the sub-committee include:
Since the quality and safety of BP developing neem seed oil extracting
products need to be standardized, a machine, conducting trials on
guideline for botanical BP registration microbial pesticide by multiplication
was developed for commercial of commercial green muscle;
purposes in collaboration with the introducing light and sticky yellow
Regulatory Services Department of traps for tuta absoluta, aphid, andthe MoA. Based on early assessments whitefly control; reinforcing the use
conducted in progressive farmers of metarihizium species (beneficial
fields in four regions of the country, fungus) in controlling desert locusts;
the use of BP on vegetables has shown and conducting trials on indigenous
effective insect and pest control, microorganism-4 (IMO 4) at Halhale
although further studies are required. for biological pest control purposes.
The prosopis tree, locally known as“temri musa”, is found in the lowlandsof the country and can be used as
an effective pesticide against fungi,
bacteria, nematode, and insectsfrom the extract of its leaves. As aresult, the BP team collected prosopis
juliflora leaves from Gahtelay,
Northern Red Sea Region, and thenprepared an extract from the material
gathered. The product was pilot
tested and applied ontermites making mounds
in Halhale (SouthernRegion) and Asmara(MoAcompound),ultimately demonstratingpromising results.

Bio-Fertilizer (BF) initiatives
The BF team was established withthe aim of increasing agricultural
yields through production of healthyand sustainable organic inputs whileat the same time cutting costs onprocurement of chemical fertilizers.

According to Mr. Yosief Tewelde,coordinator of the BF team, severalof the BF team’s major planned
activities include: preparation ofcompost in solid and liquid forms;
development of FAA and seaweed
extract (liquid); development ofbokashi (solid fertilizer), Indigenous
Microorganisms, and Indigenous
Effective Microorganisms in different
The BP team is also forms and levels; utilization ofworking on developing biogas slurry; developing a national
agarlic
solution. map of compostable materials andSince garlic is a green, composting design under different“completelyorganic” environmental conditions.
solution, it poses no2

training and experience, she delivereda training workshop to the BP and
BF teams about bokashi, Indigenous
Microorganisms(IMO),andIndigenous Effective Microorganisms(IEM).
According to Ms. Adiam, bokashi
is a solid fertilizer produced underaerobic methods to ferment theorganic matter in a short periodof time (7 days), while IndigenousMr. Yosief Tewelde
The BF team began its work in Microorganisms are present in solid
March 2021 by assessing the status and liquid forms, and cultured fromof composting across the country. the soil’s microbes found in the naturalMr. Yosief also explained that forest. The process goes throughsamples were taken from different certain stages from IMO-1 up to IMOfarms for laboratory analyses and 4. Indigenous Micro-organisms play
an important role in decomposing
documentation.
organic matter by increasing theWorking together, the BF and BP
teams have been testing liquid
fertilizers, compost, and a neempepper-aloe bio-pesticide on tomato
and okra in farms around Asmara andthe Southern, Anseba, and Gash Barka
regions. Again, although testing is stillat its initial stage, the results so far
seem encouraging. According to Mr.
Yosief, land preparation and layout
Bokashi - Solid fertilizer
designs for research on wheat andpotato crops in the upcoming rainy
number of microorganisms. Similarly,
season are also being completed.
Indigenous Effective Microorganisms
In 2018, Ms. Adiam Rezene, an are anaerobic indigenous effective
which
areagronomy expert in the Central Region microorganisms
more
effective
thanIndigenous
and a member of the BF team, headed
for Japan to study the development Microorganisms.
of organic fertilizers. Based on herMs. Adiam Rezene

Mr. Yosief also outlined otherplanned activities, such as: preparing
compost using new technologies,
like fermented plant juice, watersoluble calcium, and Indigenous
Effective Microorganisms bokashi insolid form; developing compost in ashort period of time from domestic
waste through Indigenous Effective
Microorganisms bokashi ; and using
biogas slurry as foliar fertilizer for
quality improvement, fruit beauty,
and seed soaking.

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Production of organic liquid fertilizers:
a promising approach to shift towards
organic fertilizers
Preliminary trials for the production oforganic liquid fertilizers, mainly FAA,
were initiated by three agriculture
graduates: Ms. Adiam Rezene, Mr.
Million Tewelde, and Mr. Biniam.
Teweldebrhan. The trials began at
the end of 2019 at the Assab Green
Nursery, Asmara. Ms. Adiam prompted
the initiative, driven by her training
and experience in Japan.
The small team began the trials bycollecting 65 kilograms of shark
discards from the Eritrean Marine
Products Company. The shark discards
are mixed with 20 kilograms of white
granulated sugar and then left toferment for about three weeks. This
process produced the first FAA extract
output, amounting to about 30 liters.
Following discussions with the MoMR,
it was decided that the productionof FAA could be more effective in
Massawa. This was mainly due to theamount of discarded fish available
and high temperatures in theregion. According to Mr. Temesgen
Gebremeskel,
marinesciences
expert and a lecturer at the Eritrean
Institute of Technology, it was after
successful FAA trials that the idea touse seaweeds casted on the beachas a source of organic liquid fertilizer
was raised. This basic, yet profound,initiative garnered the attention of theMoMR for two important reasons.

First, by-catch and discarded fish issues
have overwhelmingly dominatedfisheries conservation and sustainable
exploitation
discussions
sinceindustrial fishing began many years
ago. Although it is not at the level ofother parts of the world, the amountof by-catch and discarded fish within
the Eritrean fisheries sector began
to increase. Accordingly, seeking
alternative strategies to mitigate andreduce the amount of by-catch anddiscarded fish, while at the same time
Mr. Temesgen Gebremeskel
finding alternative uses for it, hasbeen a priority for the MoMR.
Mr. Temesgen noted that productionof FAA and organic liquid fertilizer
Second, the MoMR has been began in February 2020 in Massawa.
relentlessly working on expanding Although it was a limited quantity, it
the amount of living marine resources was enough to support studies onexploited sustainably along Eritrea’s plants grown in pots.
Red Sea coast. According to Mr. Preliminary efficacy trials of theTemesgen, utilizing the previously produced FAA and SLF were thenuntapped living marine resources, conducted on green collards grownsuch as seaweed, provides the MoMR in pots in Massawa. According towith the opportunity to achieve its Mr. Temesgen, “The limited, yetgoals of distributing exploitation informative and rigorous, studypressures, while also creating jobs for allowed us to find a satisfactory
coastal communities.
solution that can be used as a liquidfertilizer.”

Parallel to these small-scale researchendeavours at the MoMR compound,
other trials on tomatos and carrots
were conducted in Asmara, as wellas on potatoes in Sheka-wedi-bisrat,
Southern Region. The promising
results from these trials led to upscaling the production to more than
200 litres of FAA and 100 litres oforganic liquid fertilizers. This is enoughto perform field trials in four Eritreanregions.
Finally, Mr. Temesgen explained,“Currently, we are collecting feedback
from farmers to gauge the efficacyof the liquid fertilizers, as well as its
general acceptance among farmers.
Additionally, the MoMR is working on
optimizing the production process byimproving the biological fermentation
phase and introducing locallydesigned and manufactured machines
to facilitate the labour-intensiveprocess.”
With this solid beginning on BF and BP,
Eritrea is taking the road of achieving
safe and nutritious food.

Editor-In-Chief
Ermias Solomon, Director of Public Relations Division
Email:- ersohab@gmail.com, Tel: 182225/ 07143877/ 07182662, Asmara, Eritrea
Editorial Board
Filmawit Measho, Hara Weldetnsae, Shushan Okbay
Photo credit: Aradom Bereket, Habteab Andemariam, MoA Photo Archives

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