Over 25,000 farmers spread around Kano, Kaduna and Katsina states are going to start benefitting from the Watari Irrigation Project where the state government has renovated reservoirs that will provide 10 million Cubic Litres of water for dry season farming.
This was revealed by the project manager Muhammad Tijjani Adam who spoke to newsmen who visited the project on Sunday located at Watari in Bagwai local government area.
“As you can see, this is the main reservoir, in which we release water from the Watari Dam at night.
“It will be gathered here in the reservoir to be used by the farmers during the day when it is released in the morning.
“The governor has done a lot here in this project which was initially N1.7 billion but has been reviewed upwards due to the importance of the project.
“KSADP have since cleared it and expanded it so that it can now contain 10 million Cubic Litres of water which we open the inlets to supply to sectors 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
“This reservoir provides water for sector one and two while the other reservoir provides for sector three” the project manager explained.
In the project, N4.5 billion has been spent on the expansion project to activate 500 hectares of farmlands for the dry season farming.
More so, N314 million was used in repairing and expanding the existing sectors one and two reservoirs.
Water is released from the Watari Dam to the three reservoirs that are spread around 917 active hectares of farmlands in the area.
Water canals and channels have also been constructed under the project that will bring to life the additional 500 hectares of farmlands spreading to 10 kilometers in various directions in the area.
A Crop Residue Utilization Centre along with a skill acquisition center have also been constructed in the area to support the cattle farmers.