The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) said it would release 10 tons of Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) Cowpea before the beginning of the farming season, to assist farmers get the best yield.

Dr Issoufou Kollo, the Regional Coordinator of AATF, told the New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on [January 27] in Abuja that this would be the first generation of PBR to be released to farmers before the farming season begins in June/July.

Kollo said that the main objective was to get the seedlings in the hands of farmers so they could crop while they work on the second generation of cowpea.

He said that AATF would give the seedlings to the National Agricultural Seed Council so that farmers could access from certified seeds companies in various states.

According to him, “we tend to get at least four to 10,000 farmers growing cowpea this year so we will make produce available for Nigerians at low price.”

Kollo said the advantage of PBR cowpea was that it could only be sprayed twice while the conventional cowpea were usually spray six to 10 times in a planting season.

He added that it usually saved the farmers money spent on pesticides to control pests.

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