Some agriculture experts have called for the full adoption of irrigation to tackle delayed and inconsistent rainfall.
The experts made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
Following the delayed rainfall in the current farming season, the experts reiterated the importance of irrigation to boost productivity.
Dr. Issa Fadllulah, a fellow at the National Agriculture Extension Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), said without irrigation, the country would be paying lip service to the growth of the agriculture sector.
According to him, agriculture is weather-dependent, and anytime there is an issue with the weather, it will no doubt affect cultivation and harvest.
“If there is a delay in rain or the rainfall is inconsistent, not all crops can survive because they have different requirements to thrive.
“If we want to make any meaningful progress in agriculture, we must go fully into irrigation and depend less on rain-fed agriculture,” he said.
He explained that with irrigation, farmers could cultivate crops like corn, even up to four times a year.
“You can imagine the quantum of food we will be producing if we go fully irrigated.
“Unfortunately, I think we are still paying lip service to agriculture in this country by not fully adopting irrigation.
“In countries like Saudi Arabia and Dubai, where they do not have water or where it rarely rains, they are producing greens all year round.
“These countries are turning deserts into farmlands through irrigation,” Fadllulah said.
Also, Mrs. Chahul Ngizan, Coordinator, Nigerian Association of Women in Agriculture, said this year’s planting season was a bit delayed due to the late rains.
“In some areas of the country, the rains had already started in early April. Though the rain did not start as early as it should have, it should have begun in early March.
“We usually begin the planting season early in March, but this year most farmers began planting in April.
“This year there was a bit of delay, but we started planting in April. Personally, I have planted my yams and cassava, and presently, I am planting groundnuts.
“We hope the rain continues as scheduled, or else it will affect this year’s harvest. However, in areas where there is no rainfall, we advise farmers not to begin planting,” Ngizan said.
She, however, noted that “with the inconsistency in rainfall patterns, farmers should start investing in irrigated farming.
“With irrigation, farmers can plant all through the year without dependence on rainfall patterns.”
On her part, Mrs. Antonia Amakwe, Lagos state coordinator for Women in Trade and Agriculture (AWITA), said the government should help local farmers with the irrigation system to boost crop cultivation.
“We have been expecting consistent rainfall since March; farmers have been very hopeful that before now, the rain must have begun.
“We hope the rain begins and is consistent to enable the crops to do well. Now that it started in April, we hope it stays for some time,” she said.
According to her, the delay in rainfall this year may not necessarily delay harvest, but she hopes for continuity.
“We have been calling on the government over the years to help farmers with irrigated farming to reduce dependence on rain.
“Irrigation is the only solution to inconsistency in rainfall patterns, so that we can have all-year-round crop cultivation,” Amakwe said. (NAN)
