In a bid to boost agricultural productivity amidst changing climatic conditions, experts have strongly advocated for the widespread adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) among farmers.
During an interview held on Thursday in Lagos, an agriculture consultant, Mr Akin Alabi, said farmers need to be proactive in order to mitigate the effects of climate change on crop cultivation.
“Climate-smart agriculture simply means applying smart practices to mitigate the effects of climate change on the agriculture process.
“Due to the changing weather patterns due to climate change effects, we encourage all local farmers to invest in automatic irrigation systems.
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“Water is important in crop cultivation, so every farmer should put into cognisance the importance of irrigation system.
“In cases of drought, this will improve access to water and all-year-round food production,” Alabi said.
He also reiterated the need for the adoption of reforestation as a CSA technique.
“We also need to begin to embrace the culture of agro-forestry; most of our trees are being felled, so must encourage reforestation to mitigate climate change effects on crop cultivation.
“We also need capacity building and knowledge for farmers on the latest climate-smart agriculture techniques; we need to be proactive.
“It means we cannot depend on rain-fed agriculture, we must be innovative so that drought or flooding will not affect cultivation.
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“Most importantly, farmers must get insurance to provide a level succour to the farmers when climate change crisis occur,” the agriculture consultant added.
Similarly, an agriculture analyst, Mr Omotunde Banjoko, encouraged farmers to engage in rain harvesting and other CSA practices to enhance crop cultivation.
“One climate-smart agriculture practice that local farmers can adopt to mitigate the effects of climate change on crop cultivation is rain harvesting.
“Rain harvesting occurs when people channel water from rain or other water sources into their farms through a pipe system.
“The pipe system has a way of drenching the farmlands in preparation for crop cultivation.
“It is channelled in such a way that water can flow to different parts of the farm to get the desired results. It is a simple technique that local farmers can engage in to help their crops thrive.
“Young farmers can also pay rapt attention to weather forecasts more than depending on traditional farming systems.
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“Local farmers can also engage artificial ways of cultivating some crops that do not need a proper greenhouse to grow.
“Some people use local materials like bamboo to set up makeshift greenhouses for crop cultivation,” Banjoko said.
In addition, he noted that “Aquaponics and hydroponic farming systems” can also be engaged as CSA techniques to increase crop production. It has to do with reliance on soilless crop cultivation.
“These systems are a bit technical and advanced, but they are predictable farming with great crop output.
“However, the farmers need training to be able to engage these CSA practices,” he said.
(NAN)
