A group of women in Gboko, Benue State, has practically put the “wonders” of the Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management and Best Planting Practices on display on a cassava field measuring about 42 hectares. The field depicts what a farm cultivated using the Six Steps looks like - free of weeds, perfectly spaced, healthy looking crops and a beautiful sight to behold.
The group, known as the Divine Open Doors Women Multi Cooperative, was founded five years ago, under the leadership of Mrs Ngufan Blessing Chichi, a cassava seed entrepreneur, trained by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) under the first phase of the Building an Economically Sustainable, Integrated Cassava Seed System (BASICS) of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). The project is currently in its second phase as BASICS-II.
Mrs Chichi told Cassava Matters during a tour of the farm recently, that the group started the farm in order to deal with the challenges of procuring cassava stems of improved varieties in Benue State, since farmers were increasingly demanding improved cassava stems.
17 сен 2024
