Cassava Weed Management Project - MegaIcon Magazine

Nigerian farmers can now obtain free advisory services on cassava production via mobile phone

Mega Icon — Fri, 26 Apr 2019 14:00:00 +0000

Nigerian farmers can now access extension and advisory services related to weed control, best planting practices and other aspects of cassava production on their cell phone free of charge, thanks to the African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI).

The mobile telephony service is powered by Airtel using the 3-2-1 Service of Viamo. Farmers with Airtel sim cards who want to access the service and get good advice on cassava production can simply dial 3-2-1 and listen to all the information they need to make the most out of cassava production.

Dr Alfred Dixon, IITA Director for Development & Delivery, said the use of mobile phones would give farmers especially women access to the knowledge they need to improve their livelihoods.

“The mobile approach will also enable the recommendations contained on the “Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management and Best Planting Practices to reach the hard-to-reach terrains in Nigeria,” he added.

The cassava information on weed control and best planting practices on the 3-2-1 service are the combined recommendations from the now merged IITA Cassava Weed Management Project (CWMP), and the IITA African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI).

The recommendations from these projects were validated during a stakeholders’ meeting involving the National Root Crops Research Institute (Umudike), and the two premier universities of agriculture in Abeokuta and Makurdi. State extension agencies from Abia, Benue, Ogun and Oyo were also part of the initial message development. There were also development partners such as GIZ, Catholic Relief Services, and the Market Development in the Niger Delta project (MADE) who gave useful insights into the message development process.

Dr Pieter Pypers, ACAI Coordinator said the release of evidence-based messages on the 3-2-1 service provides farmers the tools they need to improve cassava yield and make more profits.

Harriet Blest, Country Manager of Viamo said they were excited to work with IITA in the framework of ACAI to transform cassava in Nigeria using the 3-2-1 service of Airtel.

With a subscriber base of 43.1 million, Airtel is one of the top three telecommunication companies in Nigeria, according to data reported by Nigeria’s leading newspaper, the Punch.

Godwin Atser, Digital Extension & Advisory Services Specialist with IITA who coordinated the messages with Viamo, said the development was a new dawn for cassava farmers.

“This move will complement the extension work we are doing in Nigeria by offering farmers the information they need in real time. All that farmers need to do is to dial 3-2-1 and listen to how to grow cassava”, he added.

In the days ahead, IITA-ACAI and Viamo plan massive awareness so farmers can take advantage of the information on the 3-2-1 space to improve their livelihoods.

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IITA-CWMP is putting smiles on our faces, and making life easier for us, farmers say

Mega Icon — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 15:44:43 +0000

Resource-poor farmers who are participating in the demonstration farms being organized by the IITA-led Cassava Weed Management Project (CWMP) have said that the project intervention is making life easier for them. According to them, the project is a “burden lifter.” They said they have “suffered over the years, seeking solutions to weed management in cassava farming systems.”

For farmer Fortunatus Okeke, the IITA-CWMP is perhaps the best thing to have happened to farmers in recent times.

“It was a ‘new normal’ to hand weed and face drudgery. But now, IITA has brought solutions to control weeds. We are glad for this,” he said.

Another farmer, Abu Ogundapo who is based in Abadapo village, said that the yields from the demonstration farm were unprecedented. “We have never had it so good like this,” he said, while admiring his cassava harvest.

Farmer Esther Ayangbade from Otuu village said, “This project has made cassava farming easier. I am glad to be part of this.”

Responsible for between 50 and 80 percent of yield losses in cassava farming systems, weeds rank high among the constraints to cassava production in Africa, limiting the yield of the root crop to less than 10 tons per hectare in Nigeria.

Farmers plant cassava to the extent to which they can control weeds, notes Dr Alfred Dixon, Project Leader of the IITA CWMP. For women, who contribute up to 90 percent to weeding labor, it is a “nightmare” imagining the emergence of weeds and having to clear them. In some cases, children of school age are withdrawn from schools to support weeding operations, a practice that undermines the future of this vulnerable group.

With the interventions of the IITA-CWMP using integrated weed control, farmers are heaving a sigh of relief from the ‘yoke’ of weed infestation in cassava.

The integrated weed management package comprises the use of best-bet agronomic practices plus the use of safe and environmentally friendly herbicides.

Using this approach, Prof Friday Ekeleme, Project Investigator for the IITA-CWMP, has reported that farmers are now doubling the national yield average of cassava—crossing the 20 tons per hectare mark to 32 tons per hectare in some cases.

Participating farmers in the demo farms interviewed said they were willing to adopt the weed management practices, a signpost that the intervention is relevant.

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IITA Chief Commends Cassava Weed Management Project for research and delivery

Mega Icon — Sun, 17 Dec 2017 20:37:56 +0000

Dr. Kenton Dashiell has acknowledged the efficient mechanism of the IITA-managed Cassava Weed Management Project (IITA-CWMP) in the core areas of partnership creation, research, and dissemination of innovations to farmers.

The IITA Chief, Dr. Dashiell in a 30-minute presentation to more than 300 researchers including members of the Board of Trustees of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), which focused on IITA’s Partnership for Delivery strategy, stressed IITA’s renewed commitment to impact on farm levels and how the Institute is responding to Africa’s agricultural realities in the context of food security and wealth creation.

He, also noted that IITA’s scaling out approaches were based on excellent research at IITA, highlighting the role of partners as a critical component to the research and delivery continuum.

Other projects which featured in the presentation were the Ag Results project on the control of aflatoxins, N2Africa, the IITA Business Incubation Platform, and the IITA Youth Agri-Business program.

The IITA Cassava Weed Management Project, which began in 2014, has five components—three focusing on research and two on delivery and effective project management.

According to Dr. Alfred Dixon, Project Leader, Cassava Weed Management Project, “all these components are integrated in a research-for-development model”.

Three and a half years down the line, the project has developed an integrated weed control package that is now being disseminated to farmers at scale using diverse platforms such as traditional and social media, on-farm demonstration, extension agents, and spray service providers.

The integrated weed management technology is today showing farmers the best approaches to control weeds in cassava farming systems, making farming cassava less burdensome, and increasing yields.

The project intends to reach at least 125,000 farmers in its lifecycle of 5 years.

Dr Dashiell who oversees a portfolio of projects said the vision of the Partnerships for Delivery Directorate was to ensure that the excellent research being generated is delivered at scale, support policy dialogues, and promote youth and private sector entrepreneurship.

The post IITA Chief Commends Cassava Weed Management Project for research and delivery first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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