Dry season farming: Edo empowers 3,910 farmers with irrigation facilities

No fewer than 3,910 small holder farmers have been empowered with irrigation equipment and assets in Edo State.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Stephen Idehenre, who flagged off the distribution of the equipment to the 2,078 benefiting farmers in Benin, said that 1,832 farmers had earlier benefitted from the initiative.

The commissioner said that the effort was part of Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus.

He stated the facilities were funded by the World Bank, the Federal Government and the Edo State government and distributed under the FADAMA Edo-CARES window, adding that the distribution of the irrigation equipment and agricultural assets was geared towards supporting irrigation and all round farming in the state.

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He said: “A total of 3,910 farmers have benefitted from irrigation equipment and assets in Edo State. This is to help them with their farming business during the dry season.

“Those who benefitted in this phase are 2,078 farmers, while 1,832 have benefited before. The idea is to empower the farmers so that they can be active and productive during the dry season.”

Idehenre also said 14 persons were empowered with solar irrigation pumps, 436 persons were given 218 pumps, while some poultry farmers from Oredo, Egor, Ikpoba Okha and Uhunmwonde local government areas benefitted from feather-picking machines.

Also, the Edo State Coordinator of the FADAMA project, Edward Izevbigie, congratulated the beneficiaries and urged them to make use of the facilities to improve on their farming activities as well as their financial well-being.

Some of the beneficiaries, Kanabe Ahmed, a tomato farmer, and John Imohimi, a poultry farmer, commended the Federal and state governments for the programme.

They noted that the equipment would go a long way in boosting the productivity of their farms and assured that they would put the equipment into good use.