{"id":14672,"date":"2026-06-20T12:36:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/increased-varietal-identification-capacity-among-extension-officers-to-boost-zero-hunger-achievement-in-benue\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T21:23:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:23:15","slug":"increased-varietal-identification-capacity-among-extension-officers-to-boost-zero-hunger-achievement-in-benue","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/increased-varietal-identification-capacity-among-extension-officers-to-boost-zero-hunger-achievement-in-benue\/","title":{"rendered":"Increased varietal identification capacity among extension officers to boost zero hunger achievement in Benue"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Varietal identification is a precursor to scaling improved cassava seed to smallholder farmers through the extension system. Six extension officers (one female and five male) and three lead farmers (two male, one female) from Benue State\u2019s three senatorial districts recently received training in varietal identification under the <a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/\">IITA<\/a>-led Zero Hunger project in May 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><figure id=\"attachment_26066\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26066\" style=\"width: 820px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-26066 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Zero-Hunger-team-with-the-EAs-trained-on-varietal-identification.jpg\" alt=\"Zero Hunger team with the EAs trained on varietal identification.\" width=\"820\" height=\"411\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26066\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zero Hunger team with the EAs trained on varietal identification.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The training was conducted by a team of experts from IITA, University of Ibadan and the <a href=\"http:\/\/ifad\/\">FIDA<\/a>-funded Value Chain Development Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The training covered a range of topics, including the importance of varietal identification, names of each variety, the different methods of varietal identification, and benefits of varietal identification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><figure id=\"attachment_26067\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26067\" style=\"width: 820px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-26067 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Sample-of-leaves-to-identify-a-variety.jpg\" alt=\" Sample of leaves to identify a variety.\" width=\"820\" height=\"411\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26067\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sample of leaves to identify a variety.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The extension officers were enthusiastic about the training and expressed a strong commitment to deploy the new skills to help farmers increase access to improved seed and increase their yields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am very grateful for the opportunity to participate in this training. I learned a lot about varietal identification, and I am confident that I can now differentiate between local and improved varieties and give tailor-made advice to farmers on which variety to plant depending on location and which is good for seed or root\u201d, one of the extension officers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><figure id=\"attachment_26068\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26068\" style=\"width: 820px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-26068 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/TME-419-on-the-varietal-field.jpg\" alt=\"TME 419 on the varietal field.\" width=\"820\" height=\"411\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26068\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">TME 419 on the varietal field.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The training was a success, and the extension officers are better equipped to help farmers identify and select the right varieties of crops for their farms. This will help farmers to improve their yields and productivity, which will ultimately contribute to achieving zero hunger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The training of the extension officers is a step in the right direction, and this will help to ensure that farmers have access to the right information and resources they need to make informed decisions about their crops said, Mr Ekoja, representative of the Value Chain Development Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Contributed by The ZeroHunger Team<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Varietal identification is a precursor to scaling improved cassava seed to smallholder farmers through the extension system. Six extension officers (one female and five male)<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":14673,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[979],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[32],"news-type":[],"hub":[61],"crop":[66],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[201],"class_list":["post-14672","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cassavaextensionfarmersiita-news-no-1691seed-systemszero-hunger","location-nigeria","hub-western-africa","crop-cassava","item-year-201"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/14672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-item"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/14672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28952,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/14672\/revisions\/28952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14672"},{"taxonomy":"science-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/science-area?post=14672"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=14672"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=14672"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=14672"},{"taxonomy":"hub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub?post=14672"},{"taxonomy":"crop","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop?post=14672"},{"taxonomy":"impact-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/impact-areas?post=14672"},{"taxonomy":"item-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item-year?post=14672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}