Reply To: Congo DRC Government of National Unity

[Congo]

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA organized a seminar focused on the presentation of results of two sub-projects financed by the Research Project on Agricultural Innovation in PRIA acronym. That was yesterday, Tuesday, August 13, 2016, the IITA headquarters in Gombe, Kinshasa. Two presentations were made by Professor Adrian Moango Mangaa. One focuses on synergy “tea” from compost and “biochar” on the performance of cassava in Eastern Province and the other, on the production of inoculum native endomycorrhizae for increased rice yield in Eastern Province. It should be noted that the two presentations were followed by a constructive debate. The Resident Representative of IITA DRC, Dr. Mahungu Nzola Meso said his joy to offer a framework for exchange on key issues. For its part, the Regional Director believe the development of agriculture in the Congo needs an effective search system.

Two large size papers were made yesterday, Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at the headquarters of IITA in Gombe. Both the aim to boost agriculture in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This great event was attended by the Regional Director and Representative IITA IITA Resident / Ground. The discussions were fruitful. Participants showed great interest they attach to agriculture, especially the cultivation of cassava. Professor Adrian Moango Mangaa did, before the press, condensed from the two surveys. Speaking of rice, it was revealed that on the sidelines of this survey, this culture is one of the priority crops that have been retained for the province dismembered Tshopo, where the research was conducted in Kisangani Chef- instead of the Province of Tshopo. “Rice is a problem because the varieties used are dégénèressantes. Then the farmer can not produce a satisfactory yield. Thus we developed a new variety of rice that nerica appeal which means new rice of Africa, which is a short cycle cultivar and is very productive, less susceptible to disease, which is why we wanted to use this successful variety to bring our farmers to use techniques that can improve performance. The techniques that are based on local resources “, said Professor Adrian Moango.

Regarding the reaction of the people in general and farmers in particular, the speaker indicated that there has been a massive support of the population as to the technique adopted. “People have adopted the technique, they understood that you can not do agriculture at the expense of the environment and that it was unwise to begin burning the fields as operating mode. They adopted this technique, though costly from a financial point of view. The farmers burn the fields because they do not have material, financial necessary to arrange the field. But over time, soils are infertile and yields become almost zero. We want to settle the farmer finds a good yield without the environment being destroyed, “he explained.

cassava value chain

Regarding the cassava value chain, investigations have shown that it takes much produce. He recalled that in recent times, the DRC was the first cassava producing country then must be transformed products, we must, he thinks, added value. “Cassava is among the least expensive products, while farmers are discouraged because they can sell the cassava, but in return they do not have enough means. As cassava is the first crop of the Democratic Republic of Congo, we first harnessed to show them the best production techniques based on local inputs. All we as manure, garbage, simply profitable instead of always waiting for entries that are not seen or that require technology. So with simple techniques, people understand that they can increase their performance, “he explained. The need therefore is to develop local resources for agriculture is as a driving force of the development of the DR Congo. Also, it will encourage research on the inventory, multiplication and inoculation by AMFS of vegetable crops, food and feed of all villages in the DRC.

Advice to farmers

The first tip is to ban incineration because the soil is not sterile, the soil has a life so if you need to produce a lot, we must maintain that life. “When you fire, that is to say that you sterilize the soil. The second advice I would give to farmers is to use the appropriate varieties, that is to say, productive. Above all, they must take account of the substrate, “he explains.

Partial results?

In his presentation, Prof. Adrian Moanga said that the results were partial. This is explained in these words: “The extension is a very dangerous area, otherwise farmers reject all you say their so this is why you’ve noticed that I was careful. Because to validate the results, we must reckon with time and with the sites. The goal is to have enough results to different sites and make recommendations … “.

Kevin Inana