A total of 156 peasant farmers drawn from nine rural communities in Ilorin South and Ifelodun Local Council Areas of Kwara State, benefited from a training and empowerment programme on dry season farming.
The five-day programme, organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; and Agricultural & Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), in collaboration with Synergy Impact consultancy, was targeted at local farmers, majority of whom are aged, youth and women.
Speaking during the programme, farmers from Elerinjare, Fufu, Igbo Owu, Amoyo, Falokun Oja, Jimba Oja, Apaola, Omomere Oja and Ilota communities, said the training would impact on their productivity and socio-economic situation.
One of the participants, who is also the Chief Imam of Elerinjare mosque, Alhaji Abdulganiyu Abbas, described the programme as highly rewarding, saying they were lectured on how to improve their economic fortune away from individual peasant farming through formation of farmers association or group.
“We were taught modern and effective method of farming against awkward way we’ve been doing things. For instance, we formed groups and were given water pumps and accessories to practice irrigation farming during dry season and were taught how to sell our farm produce without recording loss after harvest.”
Also speaking, chairman Elerinjare Development Association, Mallam Yahaya Amosa, said the programme helped to widen their scope on farming, especially how to procure fertilizer when they are in group.
“Also our women farmers were taught on how to improve on their tomato and vegetable farming, for instance, type of organic fertilizer to use, particularly, during dry season. More so, use of waste from poultry and piggery to improve soil nutrients on our farms,” he said.
In his speech, the ARMTI executive director, Dr. Olufemi Oladunni, said the programme was aimed at alleviating the plight of the local farmers in the country, achieve food security and economic diversification for the nation.
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