The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, BMGF, is collaborating with Kano State to provide pest-resistant Cowpea seeds, aimed at enhancing the production of the crop and its seeds in the state.
Lawrence Kent, the Senior Programme Officer of BMGF, based in Seattle, United States, made this announcement during a project review workshop in Kano. The event, organized by BMGF and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation , AATF, highlighted the foundation’s commitment to supporting the pest-resistant cowpea project, led by the Nigerian government in partnership with AATF.
Kent said that the foundation was in Kano to support the pest-resistant cowpea project, which was an effort led by the Nigerian government working with the AATF.
“This is to bring the new improved insect-resistant cowpea to Nigeria in collaboration with the institute of agricultural research and other projects. This project will ensure the development of improved cowpea variety that is resistant to pests.
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“As a result, farmers who plant this cowpea will be able to achieve high yield with less dependence on pesticides because the product itself is insect-resistant.
“So, we at BMGF are proud to provide some financial support to our partners here in Nigeria who are now working to reproduce the seeds.
Eleven different Nigerian seed companies are producing the foundation seed, breeder seed, and—most importantly—certified seed.
The BMGF official stated, “We are helping them to produce the high-quality seeds and make it available to Nigerian farmers, so they can improve their livelihoods, increase their yields, and lessen their reliance on pesticides.”
Danjuma Mahmud, the Kano State Commissioner for Agriculture, stated that the state was prepared to accept the decisions made at the workshop’s conclusion that would improve cowpea seeds and increase production.
Mahmud said, “I am here for the workshop being held here in Kano on pest-resistant cowpea seeds,” through the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Sadi Ibrahim.
“It is a positive development that this workshop is taking place in an agrarian state. So we’re involved in anything agriculture-related. Whatever the outcome of this meeting, we will accept it and work with it.
“We will educate our farmers about the new technology developed through this variety, so that they can adopt its cultivation for increased food production and, ultimately, food security in the state,” he said.
According to the commissioner, the state government is making significant efforts to ensure that its farmers have access to high-quality seeds.
“One of the ways we are attempting to achieve this is through what we call seed multiplication in our ministry of agriculture and Kano State Agricultural Development Authority.
“The Kano State Agricultural Development Authority is where we get some seeds from the national institutes in charge of these productions.”
“We produce these certified seeds, which we then distribute to our farmers at subsidized prices.
“The administration is currently working to sanitize the state’s seed industries.
“Towards this, we are making serious efforts in collaboration with the National Agricultural Council and the State Consumer Production Council to ensure that our farmers and the general public are aware of high-quality seeds,” Mahmud stated.
Dr. Emmanuel Okogbenin, the Director of Programme Development and Commercialization at AATF, highlighted Nigeria as the world’s largest producer of cowpea, followed by Niger Republic. Despite this, Nigeria still relies on imports from Niger Republic to meet its demand, indicating a shortfall in production. Cowpea cultivation is feasible across Nigeria, although specific challenges vary by state.
By improving cowpea seeds, the yield per hectare has increased from 0.2 to 0.6 or 0.8, but this is still insufficient to meet the demand of Nigeria’s population of 200 million people.
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