Japanese farming group, Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) has announced that not less than 5,500 farmers in Cross River State have been trained since 2015. This announcement was made by the group’s state coordinator, Ekok Ntum alongside its country director, Professor Sani Miko.
According to the Sasakawa Africa Association, the farmers were trained on how to use modern technology to increase agricultural yields in Cross River State. Ntum made known that the training deployed technical experts to regularly guide them on the latest researches on particular crops and cultivation.
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Ntum, who visited the farm settlements in the central and northern parts of the state, said that the farmers, who were spread across the three senatorial zones of the state, were trained on modern methods of cultivating cassava, maize as well as the rearing of goats.
He stated that the farmers were specifically trained on the new methods of planting cassava and maize by means of intercropping, as well as the proper dimensions and species to guarantee optimum yield.
Speaking further, he said that the training was made possible by the Sasakawa Africa Association and the Africa Cassava Agronomy Initiative, with the support of researchers from the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.
Boost for Agriculture Sector: It is hoped that this initiative of the SAA group continues as it is a welcome development aimed at boosting agribusiness by assisting farmers to make food production run smoothly.
About Sasakawa Africa: The SAA is a group that aims at improving the effectiveness of national agricultural extension systems to provide smallholder farmers with a range of appropriate technological options and knowledge along agricultural value-chain.
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With headquarters in Tokyo Japan and branches across Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mali, and Uganda, the group was founded by Norman Borlaug, Jimmy Carter and Ryoichi Sasakawa. The group is also registered in Geneva, Switzerland.
