What if farmers could produce more food for their families from a small piece of land by managing it better? This is the idea behind SmartPlot Naija, a farming concept designed to show smallholder farmers and communities around IITA…
Yam
Decoding yam genetics to accelerate crop improvement: The research behind Paterne Agre’s award
Developing improved yam varieties is a time-intensive process that involves identifying desirable traits, selecting superior breeding lines, and assessing their performance over several growing seasons. However, the scarcity of genomic resources has constrained breeders’ ability to make precise, data-driven…
As part of efforts to support the availability of quality planting material for farmers ahead of the 2027 production season, IITA donated breeder seeds of two improved yam varieties to seed producers and national research institutions in Ghana recently. …
New genomic evidence could help scientists distinguish ancient viral remnants from active infections—and support safer yam germplasm exchange Yams are prone to several viruses, and some of their genomes contain diverse viruses known as endogenous pararetroviral sequences (EPRVs),…
When Adeoluwa Modupe left an IITA yam farmers’ training earlier this year, she did more than take home new knowledge. She took it to the farm. Today, about two acres of her 10-acre farm in Alaarin, Elekuru Farm Settlement,…
For most of her life, Heritage Ajolo kept her dream a secret. When her classmates at Our Lady of Fatima Academy asked what she wanted to become, the SS2 student hesitated before quietly saying she wanted to be a…
Partners review innovation research achievements for vegetatively propagated crop seed systems and plan for 2024
Following the first year of implementation, the Program for Seed System Innovation for Vegetatively-propagated Crops in Africa (PROSSIVA) held its annual review and planning meeting from 12 to 14 December 2023 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.…
External evaluators from the Independent Evaluation Arrangement (IEA) came to review and evaluate IITA’s contribution to the achievements of the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) last week. Jillian Lenne, team leader of the…






