Agriculture with Jimoh

The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) in partnership with some organisations would soon release locally adapted Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) cowpea varieties in Sub Saharan Africa(SSA). The Executive Director of AATF, Dr Denis Kyetere, said this on Tuesday at the AATF Annual Review and Planning Meeting of PBR Cowpea Project at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan. He said the varieties were expected to reduce grain yield losses caused by the Pod Borer Maruca vitrata as well as reduce the need for insecticidal sprays. Kyetere emphasised that the expected yield improvement would impact on household national and global food security economic status. He pointed out that the deployment of a cowpea product capable of protecting itself from Maruca attack would make it easier and cheaper for farmers to produce cowpeas in areas where there was pest. “I am excited about the prospects that the project holds given ...