NEWS:

4 May, 2016


The training has been helpful to us farmers
As part of the Green Innovation Centre Project, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) NRC Campus recently organized a workshop on drip irrigation for farmers in the surrounding areas as well as in some parts of the central region.

Davis Sibale, an Irrigation Lecturer who was facilitating the training said the training was organized to equip farmers with drip irrigation skills so that those who can afford to buy the equipment should be able to use it effectively.

He said drip irrigation is not meant for big estates but for small sized farms; 3 to 5 hectares saying though mostly it is afforded by commercial farmers who have resources to buy the equipment.

“Most farmers are sponsored by organizations to attend the trainings while others come in their own individual capacities but at a small fee,” he said.

One of the participants, Grace Matumula from Jumpha 2 village T/A Malili in Lilongwe said the training has been helpful to her saying she intends to venture into this type of farming once she go back home.

“I believe that my home will be food secured once I start drip irrigation farming. After harvesting rain fed crops we just leave the land and from now onwards I will be using this same land for irrigation. Currently I use watering canes which are not effective as drip irrigation in terms of efficiency use of water,” she said.

Another farmer Simbuneti Thauzeni from Khwizi village in Lilongwe said the training will be beneficial to him as well as his entire community.

“From the training we have observed that this type of irrigation requires less water as compared to the irrigation systems which we have been using before. It also requires less labour. In this time of climate change, this is an ideal irrigation system because with less water a farmer can cover a big area, said Thauzeni.

He said he was convinced to start this type of irrigation saying in his area they have created a club of 30 people so that they start drip irrigation system as a team since not all can afford to buy the equipment individually.

Apart from irrigation, the project has other components such as farm mechanization, post-harvest, nutrition and ICT.


Written By: Patricia Nkhoma