Stakeholders have said that businesses selling improved
varieties and high quality cassava stems for cultivation could help African
farmers significantly raise their productivity, especially in Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.
This, NaijaAgroNet
gathered will mean more Naira from the same land, inputs and effort.
Stakeholders at the end of a national conference on cassava
seed system organized by the project, “Building an Economically Sustainable
Integrated Cassava Seed System” (BASICS) that was held at the Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) (www.CassavaMatters.org), Ibadan last week
Thursday.
“The benefits of this raised productivity will be enjoyed by
all the stakeholders across the value chain in a sustainable way,” part of the
resolution stated.
The meeting, which reflected on the experiences of BASICS in
2016 and refined the project plan for 2017 and beyond, brought together
national and international researchers, academics, policymakers, the private
sector, non-governmental organizations and farmers to a roundtable.
Making the case for urgent need for all the stakeholders to
work towards a sustainable seed system in Nigeria, Hemant Nitturkar, Project
Director for BASICS, reminded the participants that Nigeria is the largest
producer of cassava in the world with a production of about 54 million tons,
but its yield per hectare of cassava roots is about 8 tons, less than half of
the realizable yields of more than 20 tons per hectare. Researchers say one of
the factors responsible for the low yield of cassava is the low adoption of
clean and healthy seeds of improved varieties of cassava by farmers.
“We have to start with the right planting material and
nurture it with good agronomy and weed management practices. Each of these
three components has the potential to raise the productivity of cassava by 30
percent. If we do not improve our practices in seed, weed and agronomy, we are
incurring a lost opportunity of about 200 billion Naira annually from each of the
three issues,” he explained.
BASICS is commercially piloting two distinct pathways of
seed delivery. In one, called Village Seed Entrepreneur (VSE) model, in
partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Benue and with National
Roots Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), in Abia, Imo, Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom
states, the project is helping develop a network of 130 community based seed
enterprises. These VSEs will source certified stems of improved varieties of
cassava from NRCRI and IITA to multiply and sell to the farmers in their
vicinity. This way, the farmers will not have to go far to source quality stems
for planting. In the second pilot called Processor Led Model (PLM), in
partnership with Context Global Development, the project is working with large
processors of cassava who will then make available quality stems to their
outgrowers with a buy back arrangement for the roots produced.
Slow and low multiplication ratio has been a key constraint
in cassava seed system. The project is piloting a new technology called
Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponics (SAH) for vastly rapid seed multiplication. Once
this technology from Argentina is adapted and perfected in Nigeria by the
Project, it is expected to have a significant impact on the ability of early
generation seed businesses to quickly bring suitable varieties within reach of
farmers. The project is also working with National Agricultural Seed Council
(NASC) and Fera of UK to improve the quality certification system in Nigeria.
Lawrence Kent, a senior program officer at the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, said the aim of the Project is to build an
economically sustainable seed system that is profitable both to the sellers of
quality stems and to the farmers who purchase and plant those stems. He
encouraged all to create reusable bridges to continuously link technology
developers with farmers through business oriented approaches, like the one
being implemented under BASICS.
Graham Thiele, Director for the CGIAR Research Program on
Roots, Tubers and Bananas led by the International Potato Center (CIP); Alfred
Dixon, IITA Director for Development and Delivery, and Project Leader for the
Cassava Weed Management Project; Amin Babandi, Director of Agriculture, FMARD,
represented by Segun Ayeni, Deputy Director, Roots and Tuber crops, FMARD;
Folusho Olaniyan OON, CEO, Contact Consulting Nigeria and Program Director,
AgraInnovate West Africa; Emmanuel Okogbenin, Director of Technical Operations,
AATF and Robert Asiedu, Director R4D, IITA-West, all shared perspectives and
added their voice for all stakeholders to jointly build a strong and
sustainable seed system for cassava in Nigeria and wished all the stakeholders
well.
