Friday, October 15, 2010

Getting the Most from Crops, in the Field and at the Market

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet

In Cameroon, one of the foods that grows best is cassava. But farmers struggle with low yields because of pests and diseases that damage crops, making each harvest much more labor intensive than they are worth. "Farmers are spending more on planting materials and field maintenance to grow cassava and they are unable to make profit from the poor harvests," says Emmanuel Njukwe, Chief of Service for the Crop Improvement and Utilization Unit at The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). "They are fighting an expensive battle against pests and diseases."



continued at Daily Kos....