By Adadareporters
Farmers have been advised to adopt good agronomic practices in the cultivation of improved varieties of cassava stems for value addition.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security disclosed this in Ebonyi State during a one-day capacity training for young farmers on the cultivation of carotene vitamin A infused cassava stems.
The director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture in the state, Dr William Obasi, represented by an assistant chief agricultural engineer, Mr Jude Omebe, said the federal government was keen towards developing the capacity of youths to embark on commercial agriculture.
It was gathered that the beneficiaries would be provided with extension services to guide them in the cultivation of carotene cassava for improved value derivation.
The programme manager, Agricultural Development Programme in the state, Mr Gabriel Odo, and Mr Joseph Inaku, from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Abuja, said cassava production in the country was low and required good agronomic practices for higher yield.
The director of extension services, Mrs Virginia Ogwa, advised farmers to embrace improved varieties of cassava stems as they had enormous benefits, including disease resistance.
The beneficiaries were drawn from various farmer clusters in Ebonyi State. Our correspondent reports that they were provided with both theoretical and practical knowledge on the cultivation of the new variety of cassava with each going home with five bundles of its stem.
One of the beneficiaries, Ogbonna Nwegu, thanked the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for the initiative, adding that ‘it will improve the living standards of the farmers’.
