IITA commended for revamping weed science research

The researchers, who are members of the Steering Committee of the IITA Cassava Weed Management Project, pointed out that unless the problem of weed infestation on farmers’ field was addressed, Africa will not maximise the gains of crop improvement.Speaking at the event, Dr J.C. Okonkwo, Executive Director, National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Umuahia, […]

The researchers, who are members of the Steering Committee of the IITA Cassava Weed Management Project, pointed out that unless the problem of weed infestation on farmers’ field was addressed, Africa will not maximise the gains of crop improvement.
Speaking at the event, Dr J.C. Okonkwo, Executive Director, National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Umuahia, assured that his committee will make good use of the equipment given to it under the Cassava Weed Management Project to find solutions to weed problems.
Prof John Adisa Ayoade, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Agriculture Makurdi (UAM), commended IITA for investing in weed science, urging other institutions to emulate it.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor specifically urged the IITA Cassava Weed Management Project to include graduate students to develop the critical human capital that would take research on weed science forward, considering the fact that current weed scientists in Africa were aging.
Project Leader, Cassava Weed Management, Dr Alfred Dixon, reiterated the project’s goal of increasing cassava productivity for at least 125,000 Nigerian farm families through the provision of labour-saving solutions for cassava weeding usually done by women and children.
He decried farmers’ continuous use of obsolete herbicides despite their adverse effects on the environment and health, saying the project intended to change the situation by offering farmers evidence-based information that would help them make better choices.