Nigerian Government task farmers on irrigation for massive food production

The federal government has urged farmers in Akwa Ibom state to adopt irrigation technique in order to achieve massive food production.

Mrs Esther Oluniyi, the Director, Irrigation and Drainage Department, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, made the call on Saturday after a tour of the Oniong Nung Ndem Irrigation Project in Onna, Akwa Ibom.

Oluniyi led directors and participants at a South-South regional workshop on public irrigation schemes in Nigeria on an assessment tour of the site.

She said that adopting irrigation technique would enable farmers in the state to cultivate all year round, and increase food production.

The director urged farmers in Akwa Ibom take irrigation farming seriously because of its implications to the economy and Nigeria’s food security needs.

“The Federal Government is working very hard to ensure food sufficiency through irrigation farming. The current administration takes the issue of food security seriously.

“The government is committed to meeting farmers’ need for water so that that they can cultivate all through the year,” she said.

Oluniyi expressed satisfaction at the zeal being shown by farmers to utilise the Oniong Nnung Ndem irrigation facility.

In his remarks, the Project Manager, Mr Osung Ntekim, said that solving the challenge of water shortage would enable farmers to cultivate more hectares of land.

“The original concept was to take water from the river, and that is where the solution is, the carnal is supposed to be temporary measures.

“The borehole takes about four days to feed the reservoir, but if we take water from the river, in 30 minutes this reservoir will be filled, and it will serve us better,” he said.

Speaking to newsmen, a farmer, Mrs Ekaete Etukudoh, said that the project had added impetus to the food sufficiency programme of the government.

Etukudoh said that people came all the way from neighbouring states to buy vegetables and other farm produce in the farmland.

“The project is already spurring many farmers to become more serious. We are seeing results in what we do,” she said

Another farmer, Mrs Elsie Udoeduok, described the project as a good omen, saying that it had enabled many women to become self-reliant.

NAN / Foluke Ibitomi