Ibadan, Nigeria
July 22, 2011

Scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture are working with national partners to double yields of Nigeria’s major stables, thanks to the Africa Development Bank (AfDB)-funded Community-Based Agriculture and Rural Development Project.

The project, which involves active participation of farmers across five states, will deploy best agronomic practices and improved varieties to the fields, according to Dr. Sam Ajala, IITA Maize Breeder.

“It will focus on showcasing production technologies that can double yield in-situ with the hope that farmers will pick up from there,” he adds.

In spite of several innovations developed to spur yield, resource-poor farmers who dominate the agricultural landscape have limited access to these technologies.
Consequently, this has negatively affected the productivity and fortunes of the country’s agriculture—a sector that employs more than 70 per cent of people in the rural areas.

A project to double maize in Nigeria that was implemented by IITA, whose first phase ended in 2009, had maize yield on participating farmers’ field rising from 1.5 tons per hectare to 4.2 t/ha.

“The project demonstrated that with the right technologies deployed to farmers backed by good agronomic practices, farmers could increase yield.”

Scientists will be leveraging on lessons learnt from the Doubling Maize project to increase productivity

The implementation plan for the five states namely Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi, Kaduna and Kwara involve maize, cowpeas, soybean, cassava and yam.

However, yams and cassava are intended for only Kaduna and Kwara States, according to National Coordinator of the Project, Dr. Arabi Mohammed.

National partners in the project include the Institute of Agricultural Research of Ahmadu Bello University (IAR/ABU), the National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI), University of Ilorin, and the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) of the ABU. The National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI) at Umudike will collaborate on yam miniset technology.

Researchers are optimistic that the project will benefit from other projects such as the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA), Doubling Maize Project in Nigeria, Tropical Legume II, Nitrogen for Africa (N2Africa) project, Striga Control Project among others.

The involvement of IITA and its partners will complement that of the participating State Agricultural Development Programs whose mandate is to promote agricultural technologies for optimum productivity.

“It is expected that these linkages with other projects will provide the needed synergy that will create the maximum impact,” Ajala adds.

Website: http://www.iita.org

Published: July 22, 2011