Drip Irrigation: Jigawa Plans to Increase Crop Yield
The government in Jigawa state, Northwestern, Nigeria, has announced plans to adopt drip irrigation in the state in order to increase crop output by 60 per cent per acreage and also reduce farming costs.
The state Commissioner for Water Resources, Alhaji Ibrahim Hannungiwa, made this known in an interview with newsmen on Wednesday in Dutse.
Drip irrigation is a type of micro-irrigation system that has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil surface or buried below the surface.
Hanungiwa said that the advantage of using drip irrigation in the state was not limited to the maximisation of water efficiency alone.
He said it would also bridge the low productivity gaps resulting from constant flooding and drought related climate change challenges being experienced in the state.
Advantages
The commissioner said that one of the advantages of drip irrigation was that the method would help farmers to reduce the amount of fertilisers and water requirement in an irrigation farmlan and, at the same time increase production output.
He said that the method was designed to deliver water directly to the root zone of crops, thereby reducing water waste and helping the farmers use the water more efficiently and overcome water shortage challenges.
Hanungiwa said that Jigawa farmers have had terrible experience of flooding and drought in the last three years due to climate change phenomena.
The commissioner said that the sad development compelled Gov. Umar Namadi’s administration started thinking outside the box for a lasting solution toward addressing it.
He said that the state government was planning to introduce drip irrigation in each of the emirate centres.
“The government will set up a demonstration farm so that the teeming irrigation farming communities in each emirate will have the opportunity to understudy the new system for possible adoption.’’
Hannungiwa, however, assured the farmers that they would not regret this innovative idea because of its efficiency, productivity, sustainability, and maximum growth of yields.
The commissioner said that if adopted by all farmers in the state, Jigawa would lead to revolutionising agriculture in the country.
“The shortage of water being experienced by rice farmers during the just concluded rainy season will no longer be a problem with the adoption of drip irrigation subsequently.
“The state government is working out modalities to convert the traditional method of irrigation to drip irrigation to curtail high cost of fueling machines to pump irrigation water, reduces fertiliser usage and increases yield,’’ he said.
He said that he had travelled to Morocco, Spain, India, and China, where he saw how drip irrigation had transformed agricultural communities with wonderful innovative advantages.
The commissioner said that “the state government was ever ready to key into the innovative irrigation method, that would be able to meet by 100 per cent, irrigation water demand in the state.”
NAN/Shakirat Sadiq
