A cowpea farmer, Godwin Ainu of Anini village, situated along University Road in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, is excited. He told our correspondent that his excitement stemmed from the wellbeing of his improved cowpea varieties farm, which turned out great.
He was among cowpea farmers in the state who, few days ago, expressed excitement over the two new cowpea varieties showcased by scientists of the Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi (JOSTUM) during its farmers’ field day.
Ainu said, “I was given the new cowpea varieties – FUAM 3&4 – to plant by the university and it turned out so good. It is ready, but I haven’t harvested it yet.
“Everything about the cowpea varieties – the seed, colour, early maturity and size – excites me. This will surely prompt me to enlarge my farm next season so that I can cultivate the varieties for consumption and income.”
Similarly, Michael Yasar, an elderly farmer of same Anini village, applauded the new varieties of cowpea he obtained from the university researchers.
Yasar said he had no complain about the new cowpea from the cultivation to harvesting level, stressing that the outcome of his farm was delightful.
The farmer recalled that in the past when he planted cowpea varieties from unreliable sources, there was little success, but the new varieties had boosted his confidence so as to expand his farm in the coming season.
“I only cultivated one hectare this year with the two new cowpea varieties I got from the JOSTUM. I am going to use the proceed from the nine bags that would be harvested to pay my children’s school fees and to cater for my family needs.
“By next year, I will double my efforts to cover more hectares of land. I will begin to cultivate it for business and consumption,” Yasar posited.
Our correspondent reports that for these farmers, cowpea has come to stay in Benue as an indigenous legume for families due to its high nutritional value and economic importance to farmers who earn their income by cultivating the crop in commercial quantities.
Over the years, more farmers are embracing the cultivation of cowpea in the state to better their earnings, as well as boost the production of the crop in the country, just as researchers have continued to successfully churn out improved varieties for the benefit of farmers and consumers.
Before now, Benue State was not known for commercial production of cowpea until the 2016 release of FUMPEA 1 and 2 by the Federal University of Agriculture (FUAM) in Makurdi, now renamed JOSTUM, in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
The project, known as Accelerated Varita Improvement and Seed System Delivery in Africa (AVISA), is managed at the commercial farm of the university, in collaboration with the IITA and supported by Sygenta Foundation and other seed companies.
Notably, the FUMPEA is an improved cowpea seed variety which enables farmers to produce brown or white cowpea with sweeter taste.
But the quest by farmers to have an improvement of the already released FUAMPEA 1 & 2 prompted the researchers back to the drawing board to develop the FUAMPEA 3 & 4, which was showcased in this year’s ‘Farmers Field Day,’ after the farmers themselves were given the varieties to ascertain its performance.
During the exercise, the farmers, who were guided by researchers in different fields of agricultural practices, showed excitement with the new improved varieties as they moved around the farm to examine, deliberate and scrutinise the varieties of the cowpea lines before them, in comparison with their own farms.
The farmers, drawn from different locations, testified to an earlier informed choice they made about the kind of cowpea they would like to grow in their spaces so that the seed could be improved upon, if necessary, by the scientists’ researchers and multiplied, then given back to the farmers for commercial production.
Now, the farmers are set for commercial production of the big brown cowpea in their various localities in the state.
Speaking at the event, the head of the Department of Plant Breeding and Seed Science, Dr Peter Kortse, said it was a big day for his department as they were responsible for improving the quality of crops both farmers and consumers use.
“We have made another big improvement. We never believed that cowpea could be produced in Benue State, but now we produce FUAMPEA 1 & 2, which people from the North come here to buy.
“The farmers had complained that the seed was too small, so my team of researchers had to improve on the varieties, from which they got FUAMPEA 3 & 4, which had all the qualities they wanted.
“Both varieties are now brown, larger, sweet, and has early maturity duration. It is also good for inter-cropping. It is all striga-resistant and high yielding. When the Seed Council eventually releases it, there would be yearning for it all over the country,” Kortse said.
On his part, the Head of the Department of Crop Production, Prof Felix Ugese, said Benue had successfully launched itself on the map of cowpea production in the country.
The project manager of the Benue Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (BNARDA), Mrs Lucy Anongota, urged the people of the state to produce cowpea for consumption and wealth, even as she stressed the need for farmers to approach her office whenever they encountered difficultly with the new technology.
Meanwhile, an agronomist and seed systems principal investigator of the project, Dr Teryima Iorlamen, said the exercise was necessary in order to get feedback from all the stakeholders.
Iorlamen hinted that apart from all the relevant stakeholders at the event, the engineers from the university were also present because of the need to fabricate equipment that would ease the harvest of the large cowpea farm.
Meanwhile, Prof Lucky Omoigui, who developed the cowpea variety known as FUAMPEA, believes the improved cowpea seed varieties would enable farmers to produce the crop of their choice, whether it is brown or white cowpea, with sweeter taste.
Omoigui is also the seed system specialist of the project, known as AVISA currently being implemented in Nigeria and sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which among other things, seeks to conduct mother trials of pre-released lines, released varieties and seed production.
The vice chancellor of the institution, Professor Richard Kimbir, in his remark, hailed the College of Agronomy for doing so much to promote the university.
Represented by the deputy vice chancellor (administration), Professor Paul Annnue, Kimbir said, “The college invited us to showcase the new varieties they developed. The college had been doing so much that surrounding states are happy with what we are doing here.”
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