Weed Science Research at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Research Needs in Africa

Abstract

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is one of the agricultural institutes financed through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) sponsored by FAO, UNDP (United Nations Development Program), and the World Bank. One of IITA's mandates is to conduct research on farming systems in the humid and subhumid tropical zones to identify viable alternatives to shifting cultivation capable of maintaining productivity of food crops under continuous cultivation (14). The research efforts of the institute are organized into four programs. The three commodity-oriented research programs—the Cereals Improvement, the Grain Legume Improvement, and the Root and Tuber Improvement programs – provide improved planting materials that the scientists in the fourth program – the Farming Systems Program – use to develop land use systems capable of sustaining soil productivity as land and economic pressures accelerate the transition from shifting to continuous cultivation (13).