Every year International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)’s forage genebank plants about 900 accessions of forage germplasm to be regenerated (to produce new and more viable seeds) or multiplied (to increase the amount of seeds to make them available for distribution).

Four field sites across Ethiopia are used to grow the 1500 different accessions (they needs different environmental conditions to grow well and produce good quality seeds). The site at the highest altitude is in the ILRI campus in Addis Ababa and this year, due to a set of good circumstances (good field management of soil preparation, weed control, field protection from wild animals and good rains at the right time). the yields were very good and will hopefully produce a lot of new and fresh seeds for the genebank.

Hordeum vulgare maturing well

Pods of Lupinus almost ready to be harvested

Plot of Triticale protected from birds

First batch of forage seeds to be threshed in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia.