As part of
plans to ensure that farmers enjoy all-year round farming, the Federal Government
(FG) through the Institute of Agriculture Research (IAR) has expressed its
readiness to invest more in irrigation research infrastructure through more
funding. The Executive Director (ED), of the Institute Prof. Mahammed Fagugi
Ishiaku told Food Farm News in Zaria,
recently.
Prof. Ishiaku said that the Institute was now
ready to invest more in irrigation research infrastructure in order to supplement
the rain fed agricultural production towards increased commercial agriculture on
the road to national productivity and economic empowerment of the
citizens.
The ED said
that “we cannot do without improving and exploiting the potential of irrigation
agriculture and this has now inspired us to focus more on irrigation research
work that will improve the productivity of our conventional crops during the
dry season just as in the rainy season.”
He noted that the Institute had done very well
in the releases of new improved varieties for genetic potential and improvement
of crops adding that research should focus more on what will serve more
population in terms of food security and job creation along the food value
chains in view of increasing urbanization.
The IAR boss
stressed that the newly released Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) would help
the Institute to plan and also devise
new technologies that would be able to confront the changing pattern of
rainfall ‘’ be it too much pattern of rainfall or shorter rainfall that will come with droughts or
either ways.”
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