Cassava breeding is now being done in greenhouses at the Olusegun Obasanjo Farms in Owiwi, Ewekoro Local Government Area, Ogun State.
The Semi Autotrophic Hydrophonic Facility for Cassava Stem Multiplication technology, according to Mr. Obasanjo, was first observed during a visit to the Central African Republic (CAR) last year. He then chose to offer it to the Nigerian agriculture industry.
He said that the farm can produce roughly three million cassava plantlets annually using the technology.
In conjunction with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, the project is part of the Technology for African Agricultural Transformation project.
Speaking during the greenhouse’s opening on the farm in Owiwi, Mr. Obasanjo praised IITA for introducing the technology to the continent.
“This is a technology that can grow cassava and get maximum level. This particular specie can give you 30 tonnes per hectare and that is what we are on with the consultant,” Mr Obasanjo said.
“At full capacity, the greenhouse has the potential to hold about one million plantlets, which is planting materials for 50ha, and this volume can be repeated two to three times a year. So, this can produce about 3 million plantlets annually,” the former president noted.
According to Adeyemo Jamiyu, executive director of Obasanjo Farms, the initiative was a part of Mr. Obasanjo’s aim to build wealth through the agriculture industry.
“And to have that come to pass, there must be that part of science, which is being incorporated into agriculture. So today, we are seeing that aspect of the breeding operation in the crop sector with cassava as a point of reference,” Mr Adeyemo said.
Visitors were given a tour of the facility and shown how pathogen-free cassava stems are multiplied.
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