The federal and Ogun State governments have collaborated with the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, to train farmers in Yewa South Local Government Area of the state.
The one-day training programme was aimed at encouraging farmers to adopt the modern System of Rice Intensification, SRI, and the new Climate Smart Agriculture Practice, CSAP, to boost their agro-business.
The training, tagged “Year 2024 Pre-Season and Seasonal Climate Change Down Scaling Steps,” was held on Tuesday at Ilaro.
Delivering the lecture, an agriculturist from the Value Chain Developmental Programme, VCDP, Joshua Adeniyi, tasked farmers to leverage and adopt the innovative skills and techniques in SRI to enhance their crop productivity and profitability, assuring them of its economic benefits ranging from increased yields to less stress with little requirement of water, among others.
Speaking on the impact of climate change and its effect on rural infrastructure, an engineer from IFAD, Williams Akinwunmi, highlighted some points on how best to mitigate the effect of climate change in rice and cassava production, urging farmers to embrace CSAP, which he said would enable them to be eco-friendly.
He implored farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding bush burning, applying fertilisers in small dosages and ensuring water management during rice cultivation.
A rice farmer from Moro, Emmanuel Bankole, commended government for its efforts at improving crop varieties and providing periodic training for farmers in the state, promising to adopt CSAP.
A cassava farmer from Oke-Odan, Omowunmi Ige, appreciated the organisers for training them on an improved agricultural system to ensure food sustainability and improved socio-economic well-being of the people.