IITA trains 35,000 Adamawa State farmers in farm skills

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), says it has trained 35,000 farmers on modern farming techniques in seven local government areas of Adamawa state.

Mr Azeez Oyeyemi, Senior Agronomist, IITA’s Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity disclosed this on Tuesday during a green field day for soybean farmers in Yola-South Local Government Area of the state.
He said the farmers had been exposed to crop varieties such as soybean, maize, rice and cowpea.

According to him, the programme is being implemented in collaboration between the IITA and United State Agency International Development (USAID).

Oyeyemi encouraged soybean growers to plant improve variety seeds in view of it’s high yields and resistance to problematic challenges.
He also enjoined them to ensure proper application of fertilizer to achieve higher yields at harvest.

“NoduMax is a pea based inoculant ensuring that soybean’s symbiotic rhizobium bacteria are present, resulting in improved root nodulion and high rate of biological nitrogen fixation.Today, we demonstrated for the farmers on the importance if applying it and SSP brand of fertilizers on soybean production in Yola-South LGA.
They have seen the difference by themselves on the crops, those with Nodumax and SSP fertilizer, crop with only Nodumax and crop with fertilizer only,” he said.

The exercise, he said, would build the capacity of farmers to stand on their own and sustain production even after the expiration of the programme.

Also speaking, Ward Head of Sabon Fegi ‘B’, Malam Saidu Buba, lauded the gesture, adding that he learnt new farm skills under the programme to enable him to improve his 64-year-old business.

He urged the beneficiaries to the use knowledge learnt to increase their productivity.

One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Wulunga Andrew, said the training exercise assisted her to increase her production out put through application of NoduMax and SSP fertilizers.

NAN / Foluke Ibitomi