The Executive Director of the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Professor Ado Adamu Yusuf, has said that Nigerian farmers can now farm and harvest maize during the rainy and dry seasons following the introduction of the TELA maize variety.
TELA maize is a transgenic maize variety launched recently by the Nigerian government with the aim of boosting maize production and improving farmers’ livelihoods.
The maize, which was developed by a team of scientists at IAR led by Professor Rabiu Adamu, has the potential to resist fall armyworm and produce up to 8 to 9 tonnes per hectare, as opposed to the 2 to 3 tonnes per hectare recorded with the conventional variety.
In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, Professor Yusuf noted that pests and diseases are currently ravaging farms as a result of climate change. He said at some points, Nigeria relied on the importation of maize to fill in the deficit caused primarily by the fall armyworm.
“Climate change manifests itself in different ways; one of the ways is pests and diseases, of which the armyworm is one. The fall armyworm has devastated the maize fields, and farmers have suffered a lot of losses. Nigeria in that year had no option but to import maize.
“Of course, we know what it means to import food; there are so many consequences to that. One of them is that you are going to have a critical mass that is not employed, and if farmers cannot go to their farms, then there is unemployment, and once there is unemployment, there could be social vices.
“Also, in the process of import, you are also losing your foreign exchange because nobody will give it to you for free; you will have to buy it when you are importing.
“At the same time, you will realise that not only maize will be affected, but other crops will also be affected. The return on investment in maize is very high, which is why there is this dramatic shift. A lot of farmers are going into maize production, and if they are not able to do that, whatever crop they may grow, there may not be a profit and they may not bother to produce those crops,” he said.
Professor Yusuf however, noted that with the commercial release and the launch of the TELA maize, farmers have found a solution to the menace of fall armyworm
“They can comfortably grow their maize whether there is a dry spell or no dry spell; their varieties will not be affected in any way. So, this is a big achievement for the country”, he noted.
Also, while urging Nigerians to embrace this technology, the IAR Executive Director said, “My advice for them is that the earlier they embrace this technology, the better, but I am also not surprised because, for any new technology, people are divided into three categories: we have what we call the early adopters, then we have the medium category, and we have those who never accept it no matter what you tell them,” he added.
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