Ibadan, Nigeria
July 27, 2009
IITA
maize researchers have presented a blueprint on doubling maize
production to the Nigerian government. The blueprint, which
contained empirical facts and recommendations, proved that the
oil-rich nation could double maize production and called for the
strengthening of the country’s seed system to tackle the food
crisis confronting the world.
“The recommendations should be taken seriously because if
implemented and sustained, they would bring solutions to the
food crisis especially as it concerns maize production,” says
Prof. M.A Fakorede, a maize researcher at the Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile Ife.
In Nigeria, maize is among the most important crops but poor
seed supply, inefficient marketing system, and low investment in
research-for-development are among the factors that have limited
production. Consequently, current production is about 8 million
tons but the research, which involved more than 1,000 farmers
raised yield per hectare to about 4.2 tons per hectare up from
1.5 tons per hectare, suggesting that national production could
hit 20 million tons if the recommendations were scaled-up.
Dr. Oyewole Ajala, Team Leader and Maize Breeder at the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture sought
government support for the seed sector to overcome the
limitation poised by poor seed supply to farmers.
“Nigeria today is the only country in West Africa that has
viable private seed companies and they need support and
backstopping to consistently supply quality seeds to farmers,”
he says.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Agriculture and Water Resources,
Mrs. Fidelia Njeze, applauded the research team for its efforts.
According to her, apart from ensuring food security, the
research is in line with the federal government’s seven-point
agenda.
The Doubling Maize research project began in 2006 and was funded
by Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development
while partners included scientists at the Institute of
Agricultural Research & Training (IAR&T), Ibadan-based IITA,
National Rice/Maize Center -National Accelerated Food Production
Program, Institute for Agricultural Research, National Cereals
Research Institute, the University of Ilorin and the National
Agricultural Extension & Research Liaison Services (NAERLS).
The team deployed several newly-developed maize varieties
including those that were drought-tolerant, low
nitrogen-tolerant, Striga-tolerant, stemborer-resistant and
early maturing varieties to mitigate the challenge faced by
resource-poor farmers in maize production.
Other recommendations made by the researchers include:
• government should
maintain a buy-back policy
• extensive field management training of extension, seed
company and staff of other agencies engaged in maize
promotion
• scaling up of promising technologies
• generation of accurate data through appropriate data
mining and actual generation
• investment in production and promotion of labour saving
tools and
• Continued investment in postharvest
research-for-development to improve market.
About IITA.
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people's
lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to
tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for
development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking
anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work
with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and
consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and
generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international
non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of
Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR. |
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