By Jimoh Babatunde, with agency
reports
The cassava Sustainable Weed
Management Technologies, which is meant to help smallholder cassava growers
achieve sustainable increases in their productivity, has gotten the support of
the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON).
Cassava Tubers
The Director of Standards
Organization of Nigeria (SON), Dr Joseph Odumodu, has promised that the
country’s standards regulator will work with the Cassava Weed Management
Project to tackle weeds ravaging cassava fields in Africa.
The commitment by SON is amid
growing concerns over the threat of weeds to cassava production in the country
which has kept productivity low and behind other cassava producing nations of
Asia.
He said: “Innovations and standards
are correlated. So we would want to collaborate with you,” Dr Odumodu said
during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of SON in Lagos on 2 March.”
The Cassava Weed Management Project,
which is managed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA),
and implemented in collaboration with the National Root Crops Research
Institute (NRCRI), Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), and the
University of Agriculture Makurdi (UAM) is developing innovations that will
reduce drudgery associated with weeding in cassava farms.
The project is exploring a mix of
best bet agronomic practices, mechanical weed control, and the use of
environmentally friendly herbicides to tackle weeds.
Project Leader, IITA Cassava Weed
Management Project, Dr Alfred Dixon said research findings from the project
would help reduce the burden faced by women and children.
“It is estimated that women spend
about 500 hours per annum to weed, and their children’s education in most cases
is compromised as they are withdrawn from school to take care of cassava
farms,” Dr Dixon explained.
He commended the SON for agreeing to
work with the research team, and to bring on board SON’s expertise in the area
of standardization.
The Principal Investigator, IITA
Cassava Weed Management Project, Prof Friday Ekeleme said working with SON and
other regulatory agencies would bring benefits to farmers.
He explained that weeds were major
constraints to cassava, as they undermine the yield and productivity of the
root crop.
“In cassava fields where weeds are
not properly managed, yield reduction of between 50-80 percent is observed. For
instance, if you don’t weed spear grass (Imperata cylindrica), you stand
to lose 80 percent of your cassava,” he said.
While expressing concern over the
prevalence of obsolete herbicides in the Nigerian market, Prof Ekeleme said the
team was carrying out herbicides residue analysis of some herbicides and would
request SON’s collaboration in that area.
Other agencies which the IITA
Cassava Weed Management Project is partnering with include: the National Agency
for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and National
Environmental Standards Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA).
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