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Researchers seek to adapt improved mechanical weeding options to cassava farms

Researchers drawn from members of the academia, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), public and private sectors are exploring mechanical weeding options used elsewhere in the world with the hope of adapting them to African cropping systems.The team intends to build on present motorized weeding equipment already available in the market by studying their limitations in the African farming context, understanding those limitations and modifying the equipment for maximum efficiency.At a meeting in Ibadan to kick off the collaboration on 13 August, Project Leader for the Cassava Weed Management Project, Dr Alfred Dixon described the partnership

as a key milestone that would redefine mechanical control of weeds in crops such as cassava in Nigeria in particular, and Africa in general.“For us to maximize yield in Africa, we need to mechanize weeding. And the challenge before us is to innovate options that will take off drudgery from farmers, and make the farms weed-free so that the crops will grow and express their full potential,” Dr Dixon said.Accounting for between 50 and 80% of the total labor budget of cassava growers, weeds are major disincentives to African farmers. And with traditional agriculture still predominant, women and children bear the brunt of weeding investing between 200 and 500 hours annually in clearing

weeds on a hectare of cassava to prevent economic root losses in Nigeria. The drudgery involved in weeding places a hard-to-bear yoke on women, compromises productivity, and more importantly, puts to jeopardy the education of children of ages 5-14 years as most are forced out of school to assist their parents.Dr Dixon said unless solutions to weeds are made available, African farmers will not increase their farm sizes and enjoy the gains of agricultural growth. “They can plant only what they can weed,” he added.Prof Olawale John Olukunle, Head, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), commended the IITA Cassava Weed Management Project for welcoming the proposal to jointly work with the Nigerian experts; and praised the Institute’s efforts towards addressing the problem of weeds in cassava and other African crops.Launched early this year, the Cassava Weed Management Project is confronting the problem of weeds on several fronts including the use of best-bet agronomic practices by combining improved cassava varieties with proper planting dates, plant populations, plant nutrition options and also focusing on intercropping and tillage research. The integrated weed management approach of the project also includes the use of herbicides that meet globally accepted conventions and safety thresholds appropriate for smallholder farmers.

NESREA and Cassava Weed Management Team on a project site

Nigerian engineers and members of the Cassava Weed Management team

NESREA visits Cassava Weed Management Project’s sites The Cassava Weed Management unit of the IITA played host to officials of the National Environment Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NES-REA), recently at the Ibadan campus of the institute. The agency’s visit which was the third, is part of the Cassava Weed Management unit’s effort to keep regulating agencies up-to-date on the activities involving the project.The Principal Investigator of the Cas-sava Weed Management Project, Prof Friday Ekeleme, who was on hand with Mr. Godwin Atser, the Communication and Knowledge Exchange Expert of

the unit to receive the agency’s officials, gave a presentation on screen-ing trials, during which he described the various methods being used in the herbicide screening phase.Mr Bolaji Popoola and Mr Rufai Sunkanmi, both Enforcement Officers of NESREA, further went on a field visit to get a practical experience of the progress made so far.

Issue: CWMP/NL/002 December 2014

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Cassava Weed Management Project gets followers on Facebook and TwitterThe Cassava Weed Management Project

has launched its Facebook and Twitter accounts as part of the vision to create visibility for the project in order to reach the 125,000 farm families target. Early “likers” of the Facebook account after it was announced included Dr Kenton Dashiell, Deputy Director General (partnerships & Capacity Development), and several other scientists and partners. The creation of these accounts will serve as a knowledge sharing and engagement platform for people who are interested in cassava weed management best practices as well as those that share in the vision of the project.

The Facebook and Twitter accounts are basically ongoing project as they will be revised and updated as new social media platforms emerge, best practices evolve, and new concerns arise as well.

The Cassava Weed Management Project otherwise known as Sustainable Weed Management Technologies is a 5-year project that is assessing sustainable weed management technologies for cassava-based farming systems in Nigeria. The project is seeking to find solutions to labor-intensive weeding usually performed by women and children and to increase cassava productivity in Nigeria.

“These channels will help us capture young

women and men who go into agriculture but in most cases are discouraged by weeds,” said Dr Alfred Dixon, Project Leader, Cassava Weed Management Project.

It is envisaged that a two-step flow of information will ensue where young women and men will pass on the information to other members of the community.

Godwin Atser, Communication & Knowledge Exchange Expert, said the team was excited with the development.

IYFF: Cassava Weed Management Project makes exhibition to create awareness on weeds

Cassava Weed Management Project’s exhibition booth

Dr Dashiell (IITA DDG PCD) inaugurating the Weed Science Center

“With this, we are optimistic about sharing knowledge to more than 125,000 farm families and beyond,” he added.

He encouraged partners to share the social media accounts to friends and other colleagues.

The Facebook page can be found on the following link: https://www.facebook.com/Sustainablecassavasystems while the twitter handle is: @Cassavaweedmgt

The Nigeria Model United Nations Society recently hosted a symposium to mark the 2014 United Nations International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The Cassava Weed Management Project, Postharvest Utilization Unit, IITA Youth Agripreneurs, and the Cassava Breeding Unit were on hand to exhibit their

numerous groundbreaking achievements in agriculture in support of the symposium themed: “The Role of Youth in the Sustainability of the Agricultural Sector; A Tool for Eradicating Extreme Poverty and Hunger through Food Security.” The event provided opportunity for students and guests at the event to understand and appreciate the devastation caused by weeds on the farm, farm families, and the efforts

by researchers to turn around the situation. The Director General of the IITA, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, who was guest speaker at the event, was represented by Dr Alfred Dixon, the Project Leader, Cassava Weed Management Project.Dr Dixon extolled the gains of agriculture especially with improved practices as a viable means of ending extreme poverty in any society especially in Africa and encouraged youths and every one present at the symposium to explore the opportunities inherent in agriculture.Making reference to the IITA Youth Agripreneur model, Dr Dixon said the successes recorded by this group of youngsters in terms of agro-entrepreneurial expertise demonstrated that if young men and women were given the necessary training, mentorship and support, they could take agriculture as a profession and create wealth for themselves.Though for this to happen, he advised that issues such as soil fertility, finance, agronomy including weed management needed to be addressed.At the exhibition booth, participants were exposed to the various products from IITA’s agricultural research programs, while also creating a platform for knowledge sharing for visitors. A good turnout of visitors showed interest in the institute’s activities as they asked questions about how they could benefit from the wealth of information on display at the IITA booth.

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Photos

Cassava Weed Management Project joins cassava family to celebrate end of year party

The Cassava Weed Management Project joined other members of the cassava family in IITA to celebrate the end of an eventful year, on the 15 December. The end of year get-together provided an opportunity for those present to interact and learn more about the activities surrounding research in cassava as a staple meal in Sub-Saharan Africa.

With Christmas celebration by the corner, the event was filled with various highpoints in an atmosphere of festivity just as various units displayed interesting sideshows to the delight of everyone present. Dr Kenton Dashiell, Deputy Director General (Partnerships & Capacity Development) during his address took time to acknowledge and appreciate long-standing members of staff. He further requested that they share their individual experiences of over a 100 years put together working on cassava.

Mr Paul Ilona, Country Manager of HarvestPlus was also around to talk about the peculiarities of the cassava plant, stating that as a farmer, one must learn to understand the plant as a living entity that responds to the degree of care given to it.

He added that most times, attention is not given to the cassava plant by a lot of farmers and this affects yields at the end of the day.

There was a group photograph session in which everyone present at the event took part in. The event, which was organized by

Drs Richardson Okechukwu and Elizabeth Parkes, came to an end with an inspection of the exhibition stand where various products made of cassava were on display to be savored.

Cassava family in a group photo

At the moment, we are carrying out experiments to tackle the weed problem... And the results are promising

At the begining of the Cassava Weed Management project, we took time to listen to farmers

We saw how weeds were devastating cassava fields

This newsletter is produced by the Cassava Weed Management Project with technical support from Drs Alfred Dixon and Friday Ekeleme.

Editor: Godwin Atser (g.atser@cgiar.org)Writers: Godwin Atser and Timilehin Osunde

Cassava Weed Management Project Partners