IITA trains extension agents and agro-input dealers on Integrated Pests Management for cowpea production
January 6, 2021
Through the Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity, IITA recently trained extension agents and agro-input dealers in Adamawa and Borno States on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques for cowpea production.
IPM Spray demonstration at the training in Biu Borno State.
The training exposed participants to a pest control system that does not depend on the automatic application of pesticides;instead, the IPMregulates pests using various control measures, including mechanical, cultural, and biological. The IPM focuses on pest management that integrates all suitable techniques with the natural regulating systems barring environmental and health injury.The training, which lasted for two days in each state, had in attendance a total of 102 participants (59 in Adamawa: 32 extension agents and 27 input dealers—36 male and 23 female; and 43 in Borno: 23 extension agents and 20 input dealers—38 male and fivefemale).IITA Senior Systems Agronomist, Nkeki Kamai, facilitating the IPM training in Yola, Adamawa StateThe training recipients will transfer the knowledge to cowpea farmers, aggregators, and off-takers in the two states. This will, among other things, reduce or eliminate the health hazards on consumers of cowpea due to the unhealthy practices of storing cowpea with dangerous chemicals to prevent insect infestation.
Olamide Deborah Nwanze is a Senior Research Associate specializing in gender mainstreaming research to inform participatory and inclusive breeding, variety development, and seed systems policies regarding root, tuber, and banana (RTB) crops in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Headquarters, Ibadan, Nigeria. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Ibadan and holds an MSc and B. Agric in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development. Olamide is a fellow of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development – Gender Responsive Agricultural Systems Policy (AWARD-GRASP) and the Gender Responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation (GREAT). She seeks to apply her gender-mainstreaming learnings, gender-responsive research, and policy development, and review expertise to facilitate women, youth, children, and vulnerable social group’s access to and adoption of agricultural Innovations that guarantee food, nutrition, income, and livelihood security in Africa. Her current roles include mentoring research fellows, development of guides and training manuals, implementation and adaptation of gender frameworks and tools, value chain actors’ engagement as citizen science partners, policy review and redesign, data management, and analysis. Her current research explores mixed methods and participatory and interdisciplinary approaches to capture and highlight gender dynamics, needs, preferences, and challenges stakeholders face within the agricultural livelihood value chain to prioritize gender-inclusive strategies in breeding programs, policy design, and implementation.
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The training exposed participants to a pest control system that does not depend on the automatic application of pesticides; instead, the IPM regulates pests using various control measures, including mechanical, cultural, and biological. The IPM focuses on pest management that integrates all suitable techniques with the natural regulating systems barring environmental and health injury.
The training, which lasted for two days in each state, had in attendance a total of 102 participants (59 in Adamawa: 32 extension agents and 27 input dealers—36 male and 23 female; and 43 in Borno: 23 extension agents and 20 input dealers—38 male and five female).
