Notore Chemicals Industries has empowered farmers with new and innovative farming techniques and cultural practices to improve local farm yield and tackle the challenge of food insufficiency in the country.
In a statement issued, Notore explained that it established a farmers’ learning centre, to avail farmers the opportunity to come together to share farming techniques and also learn new farming practices.
According to Notore, the learning centre is primarily made up of demonstration farms where each demonstration farm consists of two equal sub-plots: a best practice sub-plot and a common practice sub-plot.
On the best practice sub-plot, as the name implies, the farmers are led by an extension worker to implement a set of recommended best practices for specific crops in the region. Similarly, on the common practice sub-plots, the farmers are required to implement the most common set of practices in their community. The two sub-plots are maintained side by side to enable the farmers to carry out a proper observation and comparison of the development of the crops on both of them over the planting season.
Notore added that participants in Notore Farmers’ Learning Centre include one extension worker and thirty selected farmers from the target communities where these farmers comprise representatives from every group that plays an active role in the community’s farming activities such as elders, youths, farm owners, sharecroppers and farm labourers.
“They are selected by members of their communities with the expectation that they will enrich their communities with the knowledge they gain from the learning centres. In addition to the thirty participants, interested residents and non-residents of the community are welcome as observers during the learning centre sessions”.
Notore said there are two principal channels employed in sharing the lessons learnt at the Farmers’ Learning Centre with non-participating farmers which involves the farmer-to-farmer diffusion where each participant shares the knowledge he has gained with three to four neighbouring farmers by word of mouth as well as by implementing the practices on his farm for them to see clearly.
“Field days during which non-participating farmers within and outside the community are invited to a special learning session. During these sessions, the participants educate them on the two sub-plots and explain the practices to them”.
Notore Farmers’ Learning Centres are located in key rice and maize farming communities in 16 states across Nigeria.
About 120,000 small-scale farmers are currently learning how to improve their farms from the learning centres.
