Professor Friday Ekeleme, the Principal Investigator for Cassava Weed Wanagement Project for IITA, emphasised that poor weed control in cassava often results in to reduction, leading up to 90% yield loss. Ekeleme said though herbicides are being used by some farmers, the majority of farmers still use hoes and cutlasses in weeding, which increase their labour up to three times. Dr Alfred Dixon said that weed is a big problem not only in cassava but also in other crops, insisting that the “hoe and the cutlass” cannot save African agriculture anymore. “There are cassava varieties that can give between 60 and 80 tonnes per hectare in Nigeria. Because farmers are not using herbicides to control weeds, they cannot get much,” he said.He, therefore, advised UPL to make the chemical available and promote it not just in Nigeria, but all over Africa.

Source: The Guardian June 24, 2019 03:00 UTC