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A view of the CNRA stand during the 11th edition of JAAD in Kong
Songon, Nov 14, 2024 (AIP)- The National Center for Agronomic Research (CNRA) promoted sesame cultivation during its participation in the 11th edition of the Decentralized Agricultural Administration Days (JAAD), organized from November 7 to 9, 2024, in Kong, a city in the North of the country, reports an information note sent to the AIP.
During his presentation entitled “What strategy for developing sesame cultivation in Côte d’Ivoire”, the head of the market gardening and protein crops program at CNRA, Dr Noupé Coulibaly revealed the extent of the efforts underway to develop improved sesame varieties adapted to the ecological zones of Côte d’Ivoire.
“We now have around twenty accessions collected from producers, as well as introduced through research. This represents the basis from which we will begin the selection process to arrive at more efficient and resilient varieties,” he said.
According to him, this approach is an essential starting point for structuring a value chain around sesame, allowing local farmers to benefit from this crop with promising economic potential.
Through an exhibition stand, CNRA experts shared accumulated knowledge, ongoing development projects, as well as techniques enabling better adaptation of food crop varieties in general and sesame in particular to local ecological specificities.
Discussions around this sector also aroused the interest of investors, cooperatives and agricultural stakeholders present, aware of the economic opportunities offered by the development of sesame.
The JAAD 2024 was thus an opportunity for the CNRA to demonstrate its active role in the research and development of diversified crops, in response to the challenges of agricultural resilience and food security.
Dedicated to emerging crops, this event placed particular emphasis on sesame with the central theme: “Promoting sesame and other emerging crops for diversified and resilient agriculture”.
These days organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Food Production, were rich in exchanges and development prospects for this promising speculation.
(AIP)
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