IITA-ACAI to train 30,000 farmers in Abia, others

About 30,000 farmers from Abia, Benue, Oyo, Ogun and Osun states will benefit from a training programme that will focus on the Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management and Best Planting Practices, according to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.

The institute in a statement signed by the ACAI Digital Extension & Advisory Services Specialist, Godwin Atser, indicated that the training aimed at empowering farmers with the knowledge to boost cassava and maize productivity and yield per hectare.

It added that the knowledge would aid in increasing farmers’ incomes, affording them better livelihood and creating jobs for more people.

The statement read in part, “The training is being done in close collaboration with the state Agricultural Development Programmes and other extension service providers.

“To ensure a seamless and successful dissemination of the Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management and Best Planting Practices tool, the team has developed videos and translated same into local languages – Igbo, Yoruba and Tiv, targeting the respective zones.

“The ACAI team has also procured mini-projectors and mobile phones to empower extension service providers in the participating states.”

According to the IITA, the Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management was first developed by the IITA Cassava Weed Management Project.

It noted that the tool had since integrated the best planting practices of ACAI, adding that  farmers who used the toolkit had more than doubled their cassava yield from the national average of nine tonnes per hectare to more than 20 tonnes per ha.

“It is amazing to see how the Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management and Best Planting Practices Decision support tool is changing the face of cassava farmers,” Atser added.

The IITA Director for Development and Delivery, Dr Alfred Dixon, described the toolkit as an innovation that combined a set of agronomic recommendations and plant protection products to control weeds and increase the productivity.

IITA said, “Beyond Nigeria, several other countries have requested for the toolkit with ACAI team training partners in Liberia, Tanzania, Burundi and Zambia.

“Apart from the use of videos, the ACAI team has put up the recommendations from the Six Steps on Cassava Weed Management and Best Planting Practices on the 3-2-1 service of Airtel where subscribers in Nigeria can dial 3-2-1 and get information on cassava weed management and other agronomic practices free of charge up to 10 times in a month.”