Nigeria don receive major agricultural support as China deliver the country’s first full-cycle cassava mechanisation equipment to the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) for Umudike, Abia State.

This development na part of ongoing cooperation between Nigeria and China aimed at modernising agriculture and improving food security through technology transfer and research collaboration.The equipment, which arrive on June 17, include four specialised machines designed to cover the entire cassava production cycle.

These include deep plough for land preparation, rotary tiller for soil cultivation, a combined ridging and cassava planter for efficient planting, and a vibrating-chain harvester for mechanised harvesting.

The system is expected to reduce heavy reliance on manual labour, cut down production time, and lower farming costs while improving efficiency across cassava value chain.

According to the Chinese Embassy in Abuja, the initiative is part of collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS) and NRCRI, supported by the Hainan Provincial International Science and Technology Cooperation Project.Both sides don also dey work together on cassava research, germplasm development, farmer training, and capacity building for researchers.

The partnership also includes plans for China–Nigeria Joint Laboratory on Cassava, which go help develop improved cassava varieties and better farming technologies.The project is also linked to the Africa Cassava Yield Doubling Initiative under FOCAC framework, targeting higher productivity across Africa.

Stakeholders believe say this mechanisation fit help reduce post-harvest losses, boost commercial farming, and make Nigeria cassava sector more competitive globally, considering say Nigeria remain the world largest cassava producer but still dey rely heavily on traditional farming methods with low productivity levels.