IITA trains African researchers on weed science

The Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) under its cassava weed management project is training African researchers on new advances made in weed science by drawing from the expertise of US and Nigerian researchers.

The aim of the training is to help Africa maximize the benefit of genetic gains which has been previously hindered over the years due to poor crop management.

“The training was particularly designed to offer weed scientists access to global current information in the field of weed management,” Alfred Dixon, project leader, IITA cassava weed management project, said in a statement made available to BusinessDay.

Dixon encouraged participants to apply lessons learnt to their research work in universities, research institutes, the Agricultural Development Programs (ADPs) and also to disseminate the information to farmers on the field.

“This will ensure sustainability and applicability of the knowledge acquired,” he said.

The training will provide opportunities for African researchers to access latest information in weed science, covered wide range of areas that explained the nature of herbicides; how it works, how it should be used and the effect on weeds and crops.

Friday Ekeleme, principal investigator, IITA cassava weed management project and president of Nigerian Weed Science Society of Nigeria, said the situation of poor crop management is worsened by low capacity and a lack of critical resource to tackle weed problems in the continent.

Also speaking at the training, Michael Owen, from Iowa State University, took time to analyse the area of herbicides’ absorption from the soil and the factors affecting soil uptake such as relative humidity, temperature, and light.

He spoke on, adjuvants/safeners and herbicide metabolism in plants, and explained how safeners work. He also listed the various classification and categories of adjuvants. Other areas he proffered insights included herbicides resistance in weed management and best possible options African researchers could take to avoid the occurrence of weed resistance.

Segun Lagoke, professor at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), emphasized the need for weed identification as an important step to any weed management control. “Weed identification gives insight into the anatomy, morphology, ontogeny, physiology and ecological distribution of weeds,” he said.

Josephine Okojie