{"id":1218,"date":"2020-05-12T12:54:45","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T09:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acai-project.org\/?p=1218"},"modified":"2020-05-12T12:54:45","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T09:54:45","slug":"spray-service-providers-bask-in-euphoria-overtraining-on-digital-solutions-in-weed-management-and-best-planting-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akilimo.org\/index.php\/2020\/05\/12\/spray-service-providers-bask-in-euphoria-overtraining-on-digital-solutions-in-weed-management-and-best-planting-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"spray service providers bask in euphoria overtraining on digital solutions in weed management and best planting practices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nigerian Spray Service Providers (SSPs), most of whom are\ncassava farmers themselves, cannot stop basking in excitement over the new\nknowledge they are getting from the training on Six Steps to Cassava Weed\nManagement and Best Planting Practices Decision Support Tool (DST) developed by\nthe International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) as part of the\nAKILIMO toolkit a product of the Africa Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a feedback training session organized by ACAI on\nthe IITA campus and facilitated by Godwin Atser, IITA Digital Extension and\nAdvisory Services Specialist, many of the SSPs exhibited a good grasp of weed\nmanagement techniques taught. They testified that the use of the printable guide\non Cassava Weed Control and Best Planting Practices as part of the AKILIMO\nsuite of decision support tools, alongside with VIAMO’s 3-2-1 service and\nIITA’s herbicide calculator app, makes cassava cultivation easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Features of the Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management and Best Planting Practices DST include site selection, land clearing, appropriate timing and application of herbicides, evaluating the profitability of tillage operations, best planting practices and how to control different types of weeds at different stages of crop growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Godwin Atser, IITA Digital Extension and Advisory Services Specialist giving training on the Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management and Best Planting Practices <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThe training has\nreally been impactful because despite my years of experience in agribusiness\nand farming, a lot of new things were introduced to me that will improve my\npractice and I\u2019ll be able to use the concepts learnt to help others on the\nfield,\u201d Olusola Agoro from the Nigeria Farmers Forum, said in his feedback note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the new things I\u2019ve learnt so far is that\nplanting cassava on ridges makes better sense and increases yield per hectare,\u201d\nhe added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On what he has resolved to do differently, Agoro said:\n\u201cPlant my cassava on ridges, always use IITA Herbicide Calculator for to ensure\nherbicide spraying is done correctly and safely, and apply best practice in\nweed management in terms of how and when to apply different herbicides\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another participant, Ola Agbetu Quadri, said he has now\nmastered the handling of spraying equipment and became more knowledgeable about\ndifferent types and categories of weeds and how to control them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can now start cassava farming knowing fully well that\nI can manage weeds effectively,\u201d he stated, expressing confidence in his new\nability to cultivate more hectarage without worrying about weeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Undoubtedly, the cost-effectiveness of the new techniques in herbicide application contained in the training was a morale booster for participants like Chukwuma Obisike and Adeniyi Coker, who carry out spray service provision as a form of business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe training gave me more insight into the lucrativeness\nof the business of spray service provision\u201d, Obisike said, adding that he can\nalso increase his farmland without worrying about weed problem in the midst to\nscarcity of labourers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coker, in his response, maintained that knowing that he\ncould now save a lot of money with his new weed management skills and\ntechniques was a huge relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A common new experience the participants shared was the\ndigitization of weed control, farm practices and planting solutions as contained\nin the mobile apps and dial service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An obviously motivated participant, Owolabi Felix, said: \u201cThe IITA Herbicide Calculator helps in ensuring the right dosage of herbicides to be applied. With this, there is no more room for guesswork.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IITA Herbicide Calculator is a mobile application\nthat helps farmers to apply the correct dose of herbicides on cassava and other\nfield crops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 3-2-1 service, which is\navailable on Airtel, is a number that Nigerian farmers can dial to access\nextension and advisory services related to weed control, best planting\npractices and other aspects of cassava production on their cell phone for 10\ntimes free of charge in a month. It is in several Nigerian languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants of the training were also introduced to AKILIMO\u2014an advisory service being developed by ACAI. The AKILIMO app is nearing completion that will amongst other things, provide site-specific advice on fertilizer application, recommendations on best planting practices and weed control, intercropping, how to ensure a high root starch content and how to maintain a year-round supply of cassava root to the processing industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Story by Godwin Atser<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nigerian Spray Service Providers (SSPs),<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-akilimo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/akilimo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/akilimo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/akilimo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akilimo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akilimo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/akilimo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akilimo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/akilimo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akilimo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akilimo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}