Nigeria
2 May 2025
An on-site Maize trial field
IITA-CGIAR, in collaboration with national and international partners, continues to deliver cutting-edge breeding innovations that are reshaping Africa’s agricultural landscape. It is leading efforts to develop and scale improved crop varieties tailored to the needs of smallholder farmers. These varieties offer resilience against pests, diseases, drought, and poor soils while boosting productivity and nutrition.
A recent milestone in this journey is the release of Nigeria’s first multi-stress resilient maize hybrid, SAMMAZ77, developed jointly by IITA and the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University.
SAMMAZ77 is a top-cross, medium-maturing hybrid that combines tolerance to fall armyworm and drought with resistance to Striga hermonthica, a parasitic weed notorious for destroying cereal crops.
In rigorous multi-location trials across Nigeria’s maize-growing zones, SAMMAZ77 demonstrated 5–35% higher yields under combined stressors of fall armyworm infestation, Striga parasitism, and severe drought compared to the previously released drought-tolerant and Striga-resistant hybrid commercialized in Nigeria (SAMMAZ50).
Vitamin A Maize cobs.
This hybrid outperformed SAMMAZ50 by 13–164% in seven out of nine testing locations under rain-fed conditions. Additionally, SAMMAZ77 showed 14–41% yield advantages over SAMMAZ68 (a 3-way cross TEGO hybrid released in Nigeria) in two of Nigeria’s four major maize-producing states.
On-farm trials conducted across four states further demonstrated 33–132% yield increases for SAMMAZ77 compared to farmers’ preferred maize varieties. These results position SAMMAZ77 as a critical innovation for sustaining maize productivity in Nigerian savannas, where overlapping biotic and abiotic stresses threaten crop production.
This breakthrough underscores IITA’s commitment to research-based solutions that address real-world challenges.
Working through strong partnerships with national research systems, CGIAR centers, the private sector, and farming communities, IITA is ensuring that improved varieties of crops like maize, cassava, cowpea, yam, soybean, plantain, and banana are reaching those who need them most, empowering farmers and improving food systems in Africa.
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