Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center

Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center (KARC) was established in October 1967 as part of the Chilalo Agricultural Development Unit (CADU), created through a bilateral agreement between the Government of Ethiopia and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). Initially based in the Chilalo Awraja of the former Arsi administration, the Center began with agricultural research and early-generation seed multiplication under the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1987, KARC became part of the Institute of Agricultural Research, now the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), and formally adopted its current name, while assuming a national mandate to coordinate bread wheat research, which remains central to its mission. A related mechanization and training initiative began at Kulumsa in 2011 through an Ethio-German collaboration. KARC is located in Kulumsa, Arsi zone, Oromia Regional State, approximately 167 km southeast of Addis Ababa at an elevation of about 2,170 meters above sea level. Through its main station and research sites across diverse altitudes, soils, and climatic conditions, the Center conducts research relevant to Ethiopia's major agricultural production areas. Over the decades, KARC has expanded beyond wheat to include barley, highland maize, pulses, oil crops, horticulture, livestock and forage, plant protection, soil and water management, crop management, seed science, food science and nutrition, agricultural economics and extension, and climate and geospatial research. Today, KARC is one of EIAR's prominent research centers, supported by a multidisciplinary team of 254 personnel. The Center generates and adapts agricultural technologies, supports early-generation seed supply, conducts demonstrations and training, provides technical and diagnostic services, and collaborates with national and international partners.