IITA to train 30,000 farmers in five states

About 30,000 farmers from Abia, Benue, Oyo, Ogun and Osun State will benefit from the training on the Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management & Best Planting Practices.

The training, according to ACAI Digital Extension & Advisory Services Specialist, Godwin Atser, is aimed at empowering farmers with knowledge to boost cassava and maize productivity and yield per hectare. He said the training would subsequently increase farmers’ incomes, better their livelihoods, and creates jobs for more people.

The trainings are being done in close collaboration with state Agricultural Development Programs (ADPs) 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.The Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management was first developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Cassava Weed Management Project. The tool has since integrated the best planting practices of ACAI. Farmers who use the toolkit have 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 & Best Planting Practices Decision Support Tool is changing the face of cassava farmers,” Atser added.IITA Director for Development & Delivery, Dr. Alfred Dixon, described the toolkit as an innovation that combines a set of agronomic recommendations and plant protection products to control weeds and increase the productivity of cassava.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 up to 10 times a month.“The idea is to get the recommendations to thousands of farmers across Nigeria and Tanzania so they can get better yield from cassava farming,” Dixon added.