Voa Agriculture Report - Strip Cropping as a Way to Increase Cowpea Production

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is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. Nigeria is world's largest cowpea producer. Cowpeas are also called black-eyed . But there is always room for improvement. Recently, before start of another farming season, some farmers in northern received training in ways to increase production. The Institute International and Tropical Agriculture organized the training in Kano. agents also attended. So did representatives of the United Agency for International Development and the Kano State Agricultural Authority. The program included training in strip cropping. This repeatedly planting two rows of cereals followed by four of cowpeas. Strip cropping is generally done on slopes, hilly areas. Farmers in many countries use this traditional with a number of crops. Experts say it can bigger crops and protect soil from damage by wind water. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization suggests strip cropping with the alternating of crops. That is, growing the same crop again and again. The FAO... combining these methods can reduce insect pests and fungi. in the Americas also use strip cropping to reduce . One example is on Prince Edward Island, a province Canada in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Colorful rows crops look like an artist designed them. Agricultural specialists the island say the strip-cropping method works well with . They say it can reduce erosion rates over hilly far better than simply changing crops. At their training Kano, the farmers also learned about a method called bagging to store cowpeas. The system uses three fifty plastic bags. The cowpeas are placed in the first , which is then put inside the other two. Insects not likely to get through all three bags. Cowpeas be stored this way for five months without the to use preservatives. The farmers also learned how to the sun to kill insects that invade cowpeas before . The cowpeas are placed on a black plastic sheet the heat of the sun. Later, the produce is into metal cans without any air inside. And that's VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. can learn more about agricultural methods at voaspecialenglishcom.. I'm Ember.

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