By Chinyere Anyanwu
Cassava farmers in Benue State are in high spirits over the positive outlook of their cassava fields as they anticipate high yields this harvest season, even as hundreds among them are venturing into sale of improved seeds in local communities.
Cassava yields in Nigeria are less than nine tonnes per hectare but improved varieties grown by Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs (CSEs) offer 20 tonnes and above, according to the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA).
According to the Country Director for SAA-Nigeria, Dr. Godwin Atser, who recently visited one of the seed fields, the cassava seed entrepreneurs will form the foundation of a cassava revolution in North Central Nigeria. “They will be the source of quality cassava planting materials of improved varieties for farmers in the region and beyond,” he said.
An elated farmer in the community, Mrs. Dorathy Amile, said in an interview that apart from exposing farmers to improved cassava varieties, Sasakawa, through the project, supported them with training and inputs that eased cultivation.
“Sasakawa is acting as a catalyst for agricultural development in our community,” said another farmer, Mr. Success Agindi. “Getting inputs has not been easy, so we are very grateful for this intervention. Apart from easing our access to inputs, their intervention has enlightened us in terms of how to identify quality and genuine planting materials.”
Expressing gratitude for the training to become seed producers through the project, Rosemary Usoo and Nyitse Nyaregh admitted that though they were new to the guidelines for seed production being given to them, they were determined to follow through to reap the maximum benefits.
“Those guidelines and recommendations are laid down by the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC),” Jonathan Yassah, the Programme Officer for SAA Market Oriented Agriculture and Focal Person for the BASICS-II project in Benue and Nasarawa states, explained.
“The essence of following them is to ensure that CSEs get the right early-generation planting materials and their fields are certified by NASC so that SAA will be able to link them to markets to sell their stems. The target for a seed producer is the stems, the roots are only additional,” Jonathan added.