68 Hectares Ready For Dry Season Rice Farming

^{WRITTEN BY EBELE EZEH}
About sixty-eight hectares of land have been tractorized in Orumba North Council Area for this year’s dry season rice farming.

The land, which has about forty hectares of it domiciled at Enugwu-Abor Ufuma, is at present, undergoing proper irrigation channeling from Odonfu stream.
In actualization of Governor Willie Obiano’s vision of making Anambra State, the number one rice producing state in the country, the State Value Chain Development Programme, IFAD assisted, has aggressively embarked on dry season rice farming in all the participating council areas.
Perfecting the water channeling exercise at the forty hectares of land that will witness transplanting of FARO-44 nursary plant next week, the State Programme Co-ordinator, Value Chain Development Programme, Mr. Nnamdi Agwuncha, said the practical experiment was aimed at teaching the farmers proper water management in rice farming for high yield.
Mr. Agwuncha, who said they also came to transfer some Agronomic practices to the rice farmers, said with the improved seedlings, pesticides and fertilizers disbursed to the farmers, they are expected to harvest six- point-five to seven metric tonnes per hectare as against four-point-nine metric tonnes.
He assured that the rice would be harvested in early may as against June farming season, making it two planting seasons in a year to double production.                                                
An irrigation consultant, Dr. Paul Nwadukwe, prescribed what he called a Check Basin Irrigation System for the farmers for optimum production.
Dr. Nwadukwe appealed to the state government to provide the farmers with praw, harrow and good rigger designed to make furrows and bonds for irrigation.                                                     
Responding, the Chairman of Ofu Obi Co-operative rice group, Enugwu-Abor Ufuma, the owners of the farm, Mr. Benjamine Ibe, joyfully testified the state government’s supports, assuring that they will surely make a living from it.
On her part, another rice farmer, Mrs Bridget Orji from Chinenye Co-operative group, Enugwu-Abor Ufuma, testified that the agronomic practice in rice farming they were taught is perfectly working out in her farm.