Day experts brainstorm on leguminous crops

The experts, who were drawn from universities, agricultural research institutions in Nigeria, Kenya, United Kingdom and United States of America were brought together under the N2Africa programme, a large scale research and development project focused on putting nitrogen fixation to work for small holder farmers growing legume crops in Africa. N2Africa is a 25 million […]

The experts, who were drawn from universities, agricultural research institutions in Nigeria, Kenya, United Kingdom and United States of America were brought together under the N2Africa programme, a large scale research and development project focused on putting nitrogen fixation to work for small holder farmers growing legume crops in Africa.
N2Africa is a 25 million dollars project being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gate foundation through a grant to plant production systems, Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
Our correspondent reports that the experts who spent two days in Kano state took time to examine the importance of inoculants in the stimulation of the productivity of leguminous crops in the country.
They unanimously agreed that the use of inoculants in cultivation of leguminous crops especially cowpea; groundnut and soybeans could double the production of Nigerian farmers.   
Explaining what inoculants is, Professor Bala Abdullahi of the Federal University of Technology, Minna said the inoculants enables leguminous crops to fix nitrogen from the air by attracting bacteria called rhizobia.
He said even though legumes have mechanism to generate nitrogen, they are often not sufficient thus the use of inoculants became handy.
“N2Africa project has shown that the use of inoculants particularly on Soybeans field could double the output of farmers by 20 to 50 percent and as well enhance the fertility of the soil, “Professor Abdullahi who is a soil microbiologist said.
He said with the successes recorded in the phase 1 of the N2Africa, three research institutions have indicated interest to establish inoculants production plants in the country.
Professor Ken Giller of the Wageningen University, Netherlands said the use of the inoculants would revolutionise legumes cultivation in the country.
“The technology has been tested okay. The use of the technology could double the output of farmers by 50 percent and this is why we are trying to use it to revolutionise smallholders’ farmers in Nigeria,” he said.
He said because of the power of the substance to double the output of farmers, Nigerian farmers have named it ‘Black magic powder.’ Giller who is a specialist on plant production identified lack of modern technology as a bane of farming in Nigeria. “The inability of rural farmers to get modern equipment is one of the problems facing farming in Nigeria,” he said.
The head of the Kano station of IITA, Dr. Alpha Y. Kamara who also threw his weight behind the inoculants said it has been tested to be enhancing the fertility of soil.