Kadjebi (O/R), Feb. 18, GNA-The Kadjebi District Directorate of the Department of Food and Agriculture, in partnership with Ingreen Irrigation Solutions, a subsidiary of Interplast Ghana has trained vegetable farmers on irrigation systems.
Mr Besa Akpalu, the Kadjebi District Director of Food and Agriculture, said, hitherto, farmers used watering cans to water their crops which led to the washing away of the topsoil, hence the land could only be used for few years.
Mr Akpalu said one of the most obvious benefits of an irrigation system was to provide water to the crops during the dry season or insufficient moisture.
He said both sprinkler and Drip Irrigation System could be set to daily or weekly watering, as well as timed for specific hours during day or night.
The Director said an automatic irrigation system would save time than the watering cans where one would have spent watering his/her crops, especially vegetables and added that irrigation system also helped reduce weed growth, improved plant growth and preserved soil nutrients.
He urged the participants to take the training serious since the district was endowed with Rivers such as Wawa, Menu and Asukwakwa which could be used for irrigation during the dry season.
Mr Alhassan Luckman, an Irrigation Technician said climate change had changed methods of farming globally.
Mr Luckman, who took the participants through Sprinkler and Drip Irrigation applications, said a farmer should consider the farm size, topography of the land, type of soil and availability of water where the farm was located before selecting the type of irrigation system to use.
He said Drip Irrigation was the best since the water drops directly to the roots of the crop, so no topsoil is washed away.
He said the method also saved time, energy, weed control and diseases from spreading to other farms as compared to other applications.
Mr Ephraim Abotsi, a farmer, said from what he had learned, Drip Irrigation was the best since it had many advantages as compared to other methods. He was thankful to the Facilitators and organisers for the training and promised to put the knowledge acquired to practice.
GNA