Bayer Nigeria Limited has developed and launched Lagon, a new product for crop protection to assist farmers in tackling weed problems in their farms to increase yield. The new product was tested on over 200 trials and demos across Nigeria and Tanzania. Lagon was accorded as one of the top best preemergence herbicides for controlling both broadleaf weeds and grasses in cassava.
The country sales manager of Bayer in Nigeria, Temitope Banjo stated that “The launch of Lagon aims at providing relief to farmers. These are exciting times for cassava farmers. They do not have to worry about weeds anymore.”
Weeds have been one of the major challenges farmers face as regards increased cassava productivity in Nigeria and in Africa. This makes women spend around 500 hours annually to make sure a hectare of cassava is weed-free with the use of hoes. The control of weed manually compromises farmers’ health and sometimes their children who are withdrawn from school just to assist in weeding.
When weeds are left uncontrolled, they compete for space, nutrients, and water with cassava reducing yield by 40-90 %.
To address the negative impact of weeds, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) managed the Cassava Weed Management Project, and over the past 8 years, screened over 40 preemergence herbicides both on the farm and on the station. The demonstrations of the trials were conducted in Abia, Oyo, Benue, and Ogun states in Nigeria and in Tanzania.
Director for Development & Delivery at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Dr. Alfred Dixon said that the Cassava Weed Management Project team also conducted residue analysis on the leaves, stems, and roots of cassava.
Dr. Dixon added, “The residue analysis provided negative results, meaning that Lagon is safe to be applied on field crops, particularly cassava”.
