The College of Agronomy, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi (JOSTUM), Benue State, formerly known as the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi (FUAM), is set to release a new variety of cowpea, known as FUAMPEA 5.
The Seed Systems Principal Investigator of the Project, Dr. Teryima Iorlamen, disclosed that a plant breeder in the JOSTUM College of Agronomy, Prof. Lucky Omoigui, developed the FUAMPEA in collaboration with the IITA.
Iorlamen noted that they are almost set to release FUMPEA 5 after the release of FUMPEA 3, which is brown and bigger, and that the farmers began to request a white and bigger cowpea, so the institution is making the big seed.
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He explained that the new varieties are an improvement over previous cowpeas developed in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) under the Accelerated Varita Improvement and Seed System Delivery in Africa (AVISA) program and supported by the Sygenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) alongside other seed companies.
Acting Vice Chancellor of JOSTUM, Professor Paul Annune, said what is going on in the university will enhance food security, adding that extension workers must do more to get these varieties to rural farmers.
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Annune noted that idle hands make youths fall prey and that a lot was being done to transform the economic lives of women and youths following the activities of the College of Agronomy.
The Director of Agricultural Sciences, Benue State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr. Thomas Unongo, boasted that the state continued to retain its status as the ‘Food Basket’ of the nation because of what the university has been doing to develop the agricultural sector.
