Typha grass, a threat to farming says JASCO GM

The assignment focus was on irrigation rice harvest using modern mechanization of tractor provision by the Jigawa government through “ Jagawa Agricultural Supply Company Limited (JASCO)” but the sight of typha grass expansion in this farming ecology strikes a sound of food insecurity to us  if necessary actions are not  taken by the appropriate authority, and this has prompted this reporter to take a reportrage look on the issue. In these excerpts, the General Manager, JASCO, Alhaji Hassan Idris Girbobo told food farms news measures that are necessary for curbing its spread.

Excerpts

How can you describe the genesis of this dangerous grass to crops cultivation in this ecology?

The issue of typha grass is a long history, initially we do not have this grass until it comes into our land ecology through cross border pollution, birds and winds. If you look at the nature of seeds of typha grass, they are so light to be easily carried by winds  to a longer distance. It came through the Northern part of Sahara desert through rural rivers where we have the flood base. Other sources are through the birds that migrate from the Eastern Europe as they carry some of these seeds along with them dispersing them along our land ecology because during the winter most of these birds do come down here especially where we have the forest reserves and the seeds can spread so rapidly within a twinkling of an eye covering large expanse of land.

What can be done to save the farming land from being totally overtaken by this typha grass?

Exactly, effort is on going to control its spread as the Federal Government is doing her own through its ministry of Environment; the state government is also doing its own through the ministry of water resources, also at the community level, farmers are doing their best through community effort to eradicate these grasses.

Sir, with what I am seeing, do you think all these eradication effort are positively checkmating the high expansion rate of this grass especially in the face of the Federal government irrigation farming so as to ensure all year round food production to reduce import?

Well, it may seem not enough but we have to intensify more effective policy that surrounds the environmental degradation because it is the responsibility of the ministry of environment as the farmers are the most beneficiary of good environment especially when it comes to farming because an improved environment will enhance productivity. So farmers are taking the bull by the horn to ensure that the grass do not overtake their cultivated lands, but certainly their effort cannot exterminate this grass because the resistance  nature of the typha grass is hard to destruction due to its weed characteristics. You see, one of the characteristics of typha grass is its hardy nature, and in all the weeds we have, rhizomatous weeds are the most dangerous. What I mean by this is that these weeds have rhizome that can easily occupy land without being seen even when you cut the grass on the surface of the ground because it has a lot of waters and food stored in the rhizome and it can easily sprout and keep growing, so it is very difficult to control unless if you can use highly strong systemic herbicide

Do we have the herbicide?

We have it but the methodology that is needed for its application is very technical because farmers have to be trained on how to use it for effective result on the grass. You have to apply technically to allow entrance of the chemical into its root for total destruction through the rhizome. This is essential to curb its explosive spread which can devastate an agricultural ecology in this part of the North.