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By Chinyere Anyanwu
The Federal Government, in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development-Value Chain Development Programme (FG/IFAD-VCDP), has trained 105 rice farmers in Niger State on improved agricultural practices to enhance productivity and food security.
The training was held recently for farmers in Washi community, Lavun Local Government Area of the state.
The intervention was under the Federal Government/Niger State government (IFAD-assisted) VCDP-Additional Financing as part of efforts to expand its Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) intervention to newly admitted LGAs.
Hajiya Hadizat Isah, the state Programme Coordinator, VCDP Programme, said the initiative was designed to equip farmers in Lavun with modern skills that have already transformed rice production in other participating LGAs.
She said the VCDP had been conducting similar trainings across the state for more than three weeks, adding that Lavun was recently integrated into the programme.
“We are here to train farmers. Although the exercise started over three weeks ago, we extended it to this community because Lavun is a new local government that joined the VCDP platform.
“Our farmers in Wushishi, Katcha, Mokwa and Edati are now doing three to four cycles of production per year because of our intervention, and we want these farmers to replicate same,” she said.
Isah explained that the training covered site selection for dry-season farming, land preparation, seed selection, nursery establishment, transplanting, water and soil management and other techniques to boost yields.
She said that trained extension agents would continue to guide the farmers through the production cycle and they would be supported with inputs and equipment at subsidised rates.
Isah said VCDP had begun constructing aggregation centres and market stores in Lavun to support storage and marketing.
She noted that communities were required to contribute 10 per cent in-kind, such as providing land and labour.
Lead Consultant for the training from the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, Prof. Abigael Girji, said the team had toured four LGAs, including Edati, Katcha, Lavun and Mokwa to deliver dry-season GAP instruction and follow up on field activities.
She emphasised the importance of proper site selection and the use of improved seed varieties.
“We advised them to choose sites close to water sources because dry-season farming relies heavily on irrigation and use of viable seeds, and to apply fertiliser, herbicides and water at the right time,” she said.
Girji said farmers were also encouraged to keep proper farm records to evaluate profitability and treat farming as a business enterprise.
The farmers expressed appreciation for the training, saying it had exposed them to practices capable of improving their output.
They noted that previous farming methods in the community were largely traditional but the new techniques would help them achieve higher yields.
