The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) assisted Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) has trained its benefiting farmers affected by the 2022 flood in Ebonyi, on dry season rice farming.

Mr Darlington Ongele, the IFAD-VCDP Ebonyi office Agricultural Production Officer said during the training in Abakaliki, that it was in conjunction with Lemal Chris rural consults limited.

Ongele said that IFAD-VCDP is always committed to enhance the production and living standard of its farmers which made it intervene in ameliorating the effects of the flood.

"The training is on good agronomic practices in dry season rice production which is presently imperative due to the flood that ravaged their farmlands.

"The beneficiaries are those who benefitted from the rural poor stimulus facilities of the programme and other conventional dry season farmers.

He noted that the consultants visited the farmlands on Jan.17 and 19 with the resource persons, state programme's management unit and its extension agents.

"They were tutored on appropriate site, seed selection modalities, land preparation and nursery establishment.

"They were also tutored on transplanting, fertiliser application, water management among other modalities.

Ongele said that the state programme coordinator assured the farmers of providing water pumps which is very important in dry season farming.

"The programme also pledged to establish several demo plots because farmers learn faster by practicalising what they had been taught.

Mr Nwakpu Fidelis, a Representative of Lemal Chris rural consults said that the farmers were tutored on the requirements of site selection, land preparation among others.

"The site to be selected should be fertile, high in water retention and should not be endemic to pests and diseases.

"The land should neither be flood prone nor a pool of water for rain-fed but may be shallow or deep depending on its water retention depth.

"Farmers who must plant on flood prone areas should time-off the plant or plant during the dry season.

"They can use flood tolerants or floating rice varieties such as FARO 66 and 67," he said.

Mr Chinedu Nwamma, a Lead Farmer who participated in the training thanked IFAD-VCDP for the opportunity of learning more about dry season farming.

"We would practicalise all that had been taught as the intervention would greatly ameliorate the effects of the flood on our rice farms,"