Ayuba Abimiku, a younger rice farmer at Gidan Mai-Akuya neighborhood in Nasarawa state, North-central Nigeria, is happy.

Ayuba is witnessing the operation of a pressured plastic-piped sprinkler for the primary time!

“This method permits for correct water administration and the farmer can decide the correct quantity of water wanted within the area per time,” he enthused.

“With this, much less water is required, in contrast to the previous technique which regularly floods our farms,” he mentioned.

“This know-how has made dry season rice farming engaging to the youths, who hitherto don’t need to get themselves soiled,” Godiya Ovey, from Madagba neighborhood, mentioned.

“This can be a system that doesn’t require a lot effort as soon as you know the way to set it up. You may mix it with different endeavours,” he added.

Moses Tsaku, one other youth farmer from Azuba-Bashayi neighborhood, says the pressured sprinkler and the moist and drying scheduling irrigation applied sciences have made dry season farming so much simpler.

“These applied sciences have utterly modified my notion about farming,” Moses declared excitedly.

These declarations had been made by these younger farmers as we speak throughout a go to to demonstration farms in three communities in Lafia Native Authorities Space of Nasarawa state.

They had been among the many farmers that had been beforehand educated and uncovered to the brand new irrigation applied sciences on rice manufacturing beneath the Water Enabler Compact (TAAT–WEC) of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) programme.

Sponsored by the African Development Bank as a part of its Feed Africa Initiative, TAAT’s important goal is to enhance the enterprise of agriculture throughout Africa by elevating agricultural productiveness, mitigating dangers and selling diversification and processing in 18 agricultural worth chains inside eight precedence intervention areas.

The programme will increase agricultural productiveness via the deployment of confirmed and high-performance agricultural applied sciences at scale alongside chosen 9 commodity worth chains. These work with six enabler compacts addressing transversal points similar to soil fertility administration, water administration, capability growth, coverage assist, attracting African youth in agribusiness and fall armyworm response.

The TAAT Water Compact is led by the Worldwide Water Administration Institute (IWMI) and applied in Nigeria via the Institute of Agricultural Analysis (IAR) on the Ahmadu Bello College, Zaria.

The compact promotes low-cost and easy-to-deploy irrigation and water administration applied sciences to small-scale farmers throughout Africa.

Prof. Henry Igbadun, who coordinates the compact in Nigeria mentioned that the challenge in Nasarawa state started in 2019 with the coaching of 40 youths and agriculture extension employees on the brand new irrigation applied sciences.

Based on him, the farmers had been educated and launched to the applied sciences with area demonstration the place the farmers, in teams of 10, utilized the applied sciences in rice manufacturing from nursery, transplanting and to close harvest.

With sights on water administration for elevated rice manufacturing, “the challenge is geared toward constructing the capability of a cadre of trainers, together with innovation platform facilitators, extension brokers, champion farmers and youths within the correct use of irrigation and water administration applied sciences in addition to implementation of fine irrigation administration apply,” Igbadun mentioned.

Mr Jonathan Joshua who chairs the Bukan-sidi rice innovation platform, established by the African Growth Financial institution sponsored SARD-SC challenge in Nasarawa state, lauded the TAAT–WEC initiative, saying it has engendered youth curiosity in agriculture.

He inspired different farmers to contemplate going into dry season farming utilizing the know-how and never rely solely on rain-fed farming for rice manufacturing.

“That is the one means we are able to guarantee meals sufficiency, particularly with the looming meals scarcity occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Jonathan added.

The farmers, who’re primarily youths, appealed to the Nigerian authorities and stakeholders to hitch efforts with the TAAT programme in scaling up these new irrigation applied sciences with a view to boosting dry season rice manufacturing so as to avert starvation after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

This, they consider, will guarantee an all year-round rice manufacturing and sufficiency after the Coronavirus pandemic.