Demonstration shows weed control can raise cassava output by 237%

Cassava on-farm demonstrations in Ogun state, Nigeria under the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) managed Cassava Weed Management Project (CWMP) have produced average yields of 27 tons per hectare surpassing the national average of about 8 tons/ha.

The demos were conducted in the three senatorial districts of Ogun states using an integrated weed control package developed by the IITA-CWMP.

Presenting the results during the Joint Quarterly Review Meeting of the project in Abeokuta, Patience Olorunmaiye, a scientist at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), said the yield from the demonstration plots were impressive and a proof of the concept that if farmers adopted improved weed management practices, they would be better off.

The highest yield from the demonstration farms was 32 tons/ha with 96 percent of the demonstration farms recording more than 20 tons/ha.

Cassava which is grown by over 4.5 million people in the country is a major staple contributing to food security and wealth of the nation.
Despite Nigeria been the largest producer of the crop estimated at over 54 million annually, the country’s average yield per ha is low with weeds being fingered as a major block.

Researchers say farmers cannot grow cassava more than they can weed—a situation that limits farm size and subject farmers to perpetual penury.

Friday Ekeleme, principal investigator of the IITA-CWMP said the results clearly show that weeds were a major factor limiting the potential of cassava in Africa.

In the last four years, the IITA-CWMP with funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation made a bold decision to unravel the puzzle of weeds menace in cassava.

Working with a coalition of partners including the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, University of Agriculture Makurdi, the National Root Crops Research Institute, and extension partners; the team set up trials in the three agro-ecological zones of the country including the humid forest, derived savannah and the southern guinea savannah.

These trials led to the selection of safe and environmentally friendly herbicides with other agronomic practices that formed the package that was used in setting up the demos in Ogun and other states of Nigeria (Abia, Benue, and Oyo). Results from the other states are also being compiled for analysis.

Ekeleme said the results from Ogun state was a thing of joy not only to the project team but also to the country at large.

The principal investigator said the results indicated that the project was achieving one of its major objectives, which is to double the national average yield of cassava, generate wealth, and reduce the burden of weeding in cassava farming systems.

Alfred Dixon, a director with IITA and Project Leader for IITA-CWMP said the project would help Nigeria change the narrative of cassava production.

He called on the government of Nigeria to partner IITA in scaling up the findings of the project to millions of cassava farmers for national development and poverty reduction.

 

Josephine Okojie