The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, has handed over seven completed irrigation sectors to farmers under the Kano Irrigation Scheme (KRIS).
The Minister, in a statement signed by the Ministry’s Director, Press and Public Relations, Mrs Kenechukwu Offie, performed the handing over ceremony at Garun Malam Local Government Area, in Kano state.
KRIS is under the Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority catchment area.
Adamu said that KRIS was one of the five existing irrigation schemes being rehabilitated by the Ministry under the Transformation Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING) project.
He said 14 sectors covering an area of 2,023 hectares had been completed and handed over to the farmers while the seven newly completed sectors covered 3,167 hectares.
“As part of the transformation effort of the Ministry through the TRIMING Project, technical assistance programmes have been employed by the project to train farmers and farmers associations.
“Those trained also include; River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) personnel on effective operation and irrigation systems as well as modern agricultural best practices,” Adamu said.
Adamu said the entire TRIMING Project was an experimental exercise by the Ministry which was planned to be rolled out to other RBDAs across the Federation.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Managing Director, Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority, Mallam Da’u Aliyu, stated that the KRIS was one of the largest and most successful irrigation schemes in Nigeria.
According to Aliyu, it is located in Bunkure, Kura and Garun Malam Local Government areas of Kano State with a project office at Kura.
Aliyu assured the Minister that the management of the river basin, the entire staff and project levels were working together with the TRIMMING Project teams to make the goal of integrated and participatory management of irigation resources a reality.
Source: NAN
