The African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) has trained cassava farmers in Kogi and Abia states Nigeria on how to use tailored Fertilizer Recommendation (FR) from AKILIMO decision support tools.
The training which held in November 2020, featured EBI Multipurpose Cooperative Society; Lift Up Care Foundation; Women in Agriculture, Kogi State; Initiative For Empowerment Of Vulnerable Persons; and Gemehaam Bees Ltd in Kogi State and Abia State, Nigeria.
In Umuahia, Abia State, the training was focused on the directors of extension services of agricultural development projects so as to ensure that they have a clear understanding of the technical contents of AKILIMO tools, dissemination strategies, the data required, data collection tools and systems to be employed. Other elements of the training included integration of their systems, and briefing on the roles and responsibilities of each partner. They are expected to extend the training to frontline extension agents who will thereafter disseminate same to the farmers.
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AKILIMO is a suite of agronomy advice tools that combines soil information, weather data, cassava growing trends to generate location specific recommendations for cassava farmers on various aspects of cassava agronomy for optimum returns on their investment.
The training was generally aimed at helping cassava farmers to apply the best agronomic practices through the recommendations of AKILIMO tools to increase yield and income from cassava production.
The National Roots Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, in conjunction with the ACAI scaling team, is also engaging partners through their frontline extension agents for a detailed introduction to AKILIMO contents, dissemination strategies, and the monitoring evaluation and learning system. All these are done in a bid to sustain AKILIMO even after the ACAI project has ended.
Source: Akilimo Updates