By Assan Bah
Dr Demba Sabally, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security has disclosed to Foroyaa after an assessment of this year’s low yield of groundnut, that the Ministry has established that the cause of the low yield is attributed to climate change effects, and the use of genetically old seeds.
He said a team of experts from National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI), Department of Agriculture, National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), and the ministry’s department of planning were sent on a nationwide assessment tour on the causes on the low yield.
“The causes have been established – they are attributed to climate change i.e. a dry-spell of about fourteen (14) to twenty-one (21) days, which occurred somewhere around the rooting stages of the groundnut. This led to the yield failures,” adding that flooding in other parts of the country also didn’t help.
He said part of experts’ advice was the change of groundnut seeds saying: “the seeds themselves are genetically too old and they [experts] have recommended that we change the seeds we supply to the farmers,” emphasizing even most of the seeds were farmer-owned which he said has all been looked at.
The minister further said his ministry is working with both the FAO to conduct a TCP test which he said is underway and the World Bank to assist farmers for the upcoming season.
According to him, government has already mapped-out plans to support farmers with seeds for the upcoming farming season. “We have started supplying seeds to the National Seed Secretariat to work with the seed growers association to disseminate and do seed multiplication of the modern high yielding climate smart seeds of groundnut to be distributed to farmers. It may however, not reach all farmers in the first year, our aim is to change the old seed variety we have in the Gambia to a high-yielding climate smart variety.
He however, advice farmers to use the seed they currently have in the absence of any other alternative. “As a government we will help them achieve those high-yield seeds. Some farmers will be supplied the seeds and the multiplication will take effect from that point on.”
