IRAD empowers NW wheat farmers with tonnes of foundation seeds, fertilisers.

Two tonnes of foundation wheat seeds and 50 tonnes of fertilisers where handed to Cameroon Wheat Development Cooperative, CAWDEV. 

CAWDEV will multiply the foundation seeds and share with smallholder wheat farmers in the North West Region.

Speaking during the event, the Director General of IRAD, Dr. Noé Woin, said the donation will help the country gradually, but steadily attain the goals of the import substitution strategy of the Head of State, President Paul Biya.

He added that Cameroon is home to a substantial amount of arable land which, if properly exploited, will enable the country to limit food imports as clearly stated out in the country’s import-substitution plan. 

“It is for this reason that the Government of Camer oon, in collaboration with its many partners, has set for itself the task of tackling the agricultural production challenges in a comprehensive way,” he stated.

Dr. Noé Woin disclosed that IRAD, is the secular arm of the Government in charge of aspects relating to innovative agricultural research for development in the country, and is doing this in synergy with all partners with similar objectives. 

“It is for this and other reasons that IRAD has intensified its collaboration with CAWDEV during the past couple of years. This collaborative effort has intensified following the loss or destruction, in recent years, of a substantial portion of IRAD’s plant and animal genetic resources in some of its operational structures across the national territory,” he said.

He noted that: “CAWDEV is an umbrella organisation with a membership of more than 10,000 smallholder farmers, some of whom are located in some areas of difficult access to our IRAD personnel. It is in this light that IRAD intensified its engagement with CAWDEV so that innovative ideas and technologies should continue to reach farmers in zones where insecurity or other factors hinder the access of IRAD workers”. 

“Indeed, the results of the CAWDEV - IRAD partnership have been numerous and varied. We can note the participation in several open-day events and the promotion of climate-smart common bean varieties that are very rich in iron, an element that is deficient in many of our rural communities,” IRAD Director General disclosed. 

On his part, the Executive Director of CAWDEV, Basilius Tatah, said the seeds are going to give them good yields of certified seeds and they shall proceed in up-scaling their scheme. 

“Our target for this year is 5,000 farmers participation. The best farmers will be selected to do the seed multiplication, which has some specific criteria to avoid contamination and other issues,” he said.

“This grains that we are receiving are still foundation seeds, which means the seeds are still of very high quality and we cannot make an error of stretching to start processing from these seeds. We have to multiply it at least three times or for three years before we start thinking of consuming these seeds,” Tatah added.

He continued that: “Wheat is a heavy feeder and needs fertilisation heavily, because when it is not nicely fertilised the quality drops and the quality of the flour as well will drop”.

He thus said the donation of the fertilisers by IRAD is also very important. 

While thanking IRAD for the donation, Tatah said: “We are amazed. We had 50 tonnes of fertiliser today. And you can imagine what 50 tonnes of fertiliser can do to agricultural production. It's marvelous”.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3511 of Tuesday July 22, 2025