FG/IFAD -VALUE CHAIN DEV. PROGRAMME TASKS FARMER’S TO EMBRACE DRY SEASON FARMING
The Niger State Coordinator of Federal Government/International Fund for Agriculture Development Programme, FG./IFAD- Value Chain Development Programme,VCDP, Dr. Matthew Ahmed has appealed to Rice farmers in the state to embrace dry season farming to mitigate the effects of 2022 perennial flood that destroyed their farmlands and avert food shortage in the state and the Nation.
Dr. Matthew stated this during training of farmers on Good Agronomic Practices on Dry Season Rice Production in Bida, Katcha, Mokwa, Edati and Borgu LGs in Rabba, Mokwa LG of the state..
He stated that IFAD decided to organize the training due to devastating effects of flood which destroyed alot of rice farms in order to increase yield per hectare by farmers to ensure food security in the state and the country as well as.
Dr. Ahmed explained, ,” this dry season is a massive one, we are pursuing it aggressively , if we don’t do that, there is going to food shortage . This could lead to alot of crisis as a result of the flood during dry the season”
” And, if the farmers apply the new knowledge they get from this training at the end of production season farmers, they will be harvesting over 12 metric tonne per hectare”.
Prof. Job Nmadu an Agronomist/Consultant to rice farmers in the state from the Federal University of Technology, FUT, Minna, giving an overview of the training said the training the exercise was designed to building their capacity on Climate Smart Farm Management, Post Harvest handling, Decision making, among others to ensure bumper harvest.
Also, Prof. Abigail Jirgi FUT Minna an advocate for women empowerment especially in agriculture, said the dry season rice farming training will assist women and other farmers come out of poverty and boast the nation’s economy.
She noted,” educating them on things like this will help the economy by boasting economic activities. We hope this training will help the woman and farmers double or triple their outputs”.
Some of the trainees across the four benefiting LGAs, commended VCDP for the training describing it as a timely intervention to boost their harvest during the dry season to reduce hardship and cushion their loses due to flood disaster.
One of the trainee, Mrs. Hannah Yisa from Mokwa LG described the effort of IFAD as timely in assisting rice farmers to get more yield per hectare to reduce their sufferings due to the last year’s flood.
Abubakar Mohammed from Edati LG expressed joy at the training , particularly on right spacing, timely planting and application of fertilizer on his rice farm, saying he will step-down the knowledge gathered with other clusters of rice farmers in his council.
