Obasanjo Farms introduces new cassava breeding technology

The Olusegun Obasanjo Farms in Owiwi, Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State, has adopted the Green House Technology for breeding cassava.

Mr Obasanjo said he first noticed the Semi Autotrophic Hydrophonic Facility for Cassava Stem Multiplication technology during a visit to Central African Republic (CAR) last year and decided to introduce it to the Nigerian agricultural sector

Using the technology, he said the farm can produce about three million plantlets of cassava annually.

The project, under the Technology for African Agric Transformation project, is in partnership with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.

Speaking at the commissioning of the greenhouse at the farm in Owiwi, Mr Obasanjo commended IITA for bringing the technology to Africa.

“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.

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The executive director of Obasanjo Farms, Adeyemo Jamiyu, said the development was part of Mr Obasanjo’s vision to create wealth through agriculture business.

“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.

On a tour of the facility, guests were shown how pathogen-free cassava stems are multiplicated.

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