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Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) has said the research and innovative solutions being developed at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) could transform Nigeria’s agricultural narrative.   Emmanuel Ijewere, Vice President, NABG Emmanuel Ijewere, Vice President, NABG, said this when he led a delegation from the group on a visit to IITA to explore areas of possible collaboration. NABG is widely regarded as Nigeria’s agricultural think-tank. The group comprises eminent players in the agricultural value chain. The team was excited over the many innovations already developed by IITA ranging from improved seeds that could more than double farmers’ productivity, to technologies that control weeds and double the yield of cassava, to simple processing machines that add value to crops such as cowpea, cassava, and yam. Other technologies such as inoculum production which raises the productivity of legumes such as soybean by about 20 percent, and aflasa...

The technical committee on Nigeria Yam Export Programme is working with the University of Agriculture, Umudike and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to produce seed yams for export. The committee was charged with the responsibilities of finding markets for Nigerian yams in the world and providing market information on weekly prices of yam at the major marketing centres abroad. Speaking in Lagos, Prof. Simon Irtwang, chairman of the committee, disclosed that the seed yams would be given to farmers to plant exclusively for export. “One of the challenges with the flag-off of yams exported in June 2017 was that the yams were exposed to the sun before being selected for export. Once yams are exposed in the sun for long, the process of decay sets in gradually. “With special seed yams, the structures to have a good quality of seed yams for export will be set in motion. This will help and ensure that future yam exports withstand the temperatures in a...