Gombe: IITA Holds Brown Field Day To Boost Food Production

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has organised a Brown Field Day for 410 farmers to accelerate cereal crop production in Gombe State.

According to TAAT, the Brown Field Day is an event that brings together farmers, research scientists, policy makers, development partners and other stakeholders to interact and appraise new and improved technologies for adoption and to showcase the potential of wheat production in Nigeria.

The three-day exercise is being organised through the Feed the Future, Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Mr Habibullah Ibrahim, the Senior Technical Field Officer, USAID, IITA activity in the state, said this in an interview in Gombe on Saturday.

He said the exercise which started on Monday had covered Akko, Billiri and Kaltungo Local Government Areas of state.

Ibrahim said that farmers were exposed to improved variety maize, rice, soybean and cowpea seeds during the exercise.

The exercise, he said, also focused at enlighten farmers on the early maturity of the crops, its tolerance to disease infestation and high yields as well as the effectiveness of the crops in addressing farmer-herder clashes, especially cowpea.

“Farmers are excited about the output of the soybean field because they could see the positive difference in yields between what USAID Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity through IITA is promoting and their practices.

“Also, farmers in the three LGAs expressed satisfaction with the intervention from USAID and IITA.

“The intervention according to the farmers helped in promoting seed business in their communities”, adding that such would also enhance access to genuine seeds.

Ibrahim commended the farmers and stakeholders for embracing the new farming techniques, urging them to see it as “farmer-friendly”.

He urged them to utilise the opportunity to ensure sustainability of the activities by adopting Good Agricultural Practices.

NAN/ Oyenike Oyeniyi