Growing Food: A Guide to Food Production

optimum. Different varieties are adapted to grow at different altitudes. Normally
only brown seeded varieties are grown above about 2500 m.
Pests: not normally a serious problem, although armyworms, locusts, grasshoppers
and root-knot eelworms can cause some damage. The Welo (Wollo) bush-cricket
(Decticoides brevipennis or

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Degeza”) can cause great damage. Central shootfly
(Hylemya arambourgi) is controlled with seed dressings. Red tefworm (Mentaxya
ignicollis) is controlled with various sprays.

conditions; late planted crops normally avoid rust, but run the danger of not having
enough rainfall to grow well. Head Smudge (Helminthosporium miyakei, “Aramo”)
can also be a problem in humid conditions; it is seed-borne, so infected crops should
not be used for seed. Damping-off (Drechslera poae) can be severe, especially with
high seed rates and/or early planting.
Other diseases include: Stinking Smut, which infects the whole seed head,
Leaf Blight (Septoria), Phoma Leafspot (on old leaves),
Soot (Alternaria cladosporium and Coniosporium species) and Anthracnose.

YIELD
Anything from almost no yield up to 2–3 MT/ha is normal; 1 MT/ha is considered to
be a good crop.
Teff is reliable; although other crops will provide more food in good years, teff
will often produce at least something to eat in low rainfall years when other crops,
even millet, produce nothing.

UTILISATION
Teff is used almost exclusively for making enjera in Ethiopia, and by

diabetes and assisting with blood sugar control. An additional advantage is

that teff is almost always grown and stored under organic conditions.

The plant is a grass (Poaceae alt. Graminae), and can be used to make very

palatable and highly valued hay for livestock fodder in countries such as

Ethiopia, South Africa, Kenya and Australia.

The straw after is a very highly valued animal food; it can also be used as

In India the young green plants are often eaten by animals; sometimes the cut

plants are used as a mulch.

The grain is sometimes used to make alcoholic drinks (tela and katikala).

arrowroot, chickpeas, quinoa, tapioca and potatoes.

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Ethiopians living abroad. The grain has very high levels of iron (80–90 mg/

100 g) and calcium (100–110 mg/100 g), and about 9% protein. It is normally

eaten with wot, a sauce made of meat and/or pulses; the wot supplements the

lysine deficit in teff.

The high fiber content of the grain means that it important in preventing

Teff may also have applications for persons with Celiac Disease (gluten in-

tolerance). Some gluten free food crops include maize, rice, buckwheat,

142 TONY WINCH

Altitude: teff can grow from sea level up to about 2800 metres, but 1800–2200 m is

Diseases: Rust (Wag”) is common and can be a problem, especially in humid

reinforcement for mud plastering of tukuls & grain stores (goteras).

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