Facilities

Melkasa Agricultural Research Center is one of the principal federal agricultural research centers in Ethiopia, located in the East Shewa Zone of the Oromia Region. It operates under the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and focuses on generating and adapting agricultural technologies suited to lowland and semi-arid agro-ecologies. The center is particularly known for its research on crop improvement, especially maize, sorghum, pulses, oil crops, and horticultural crops. The center conducts multidisciplinary research on crop breeding, soil fertility, irrigation, pest management, and natural resource conservation to enhance productivity and resilience in drought-prone areas. It develops improved crop varieties and management practices that are widely disseminated to farmers through extension systems and partnerships with regional research institutes and universities. Through its technology generation and dissemination efforts, Melkasa Agricultural Research Center plays a significant role in strengthening food security and sustainable agricultural development in Ethiopia’s lowland farming systems.