Land use for cocoyam in Nigeria: implications for cocoyam re-birth

Abstract

Cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta {taro} and Xanthosoma mafafa {tannia}) is a neglected staple carbohydrate–based food in Nigeria, despite its higher nutritional advantages over competitor root and tuber crops. The National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, Nigeria, launched cocoyam re-birth initiative (CRI) in 2007 to promote cocoyam research, production, marketing and consumption. Currently, about 34.6x106 and 23.4x106 million ha of the country's arable land is moderately and highly suitable, respectively, for sustainable cocoyam production. However, 28.2x106 and 4.7x106 million ha area is marginally suitable and unsuitable, respectively, for its cultivation. A combination of land area under highly suitable and moderately suitable showed that 65.1 and 34.9% of it represent where cocoyam is relatively unimportant and very important, respectively. Cocoyam is also relatively unimportant on marginally suitable land (32.7%) out of total suitable land area. To promote cocoyam production in the country through CRI, application of cocoyam re-birth mission ad extra where the crop is relatively unimportant and cocoyam re-birth mission ad intra where it is very important is recommended.