Ongoing Dry season Farming

Each dry season, farmers in my city of residence take advantage of a portion of land that is always flooded during rainy season to grow vegetables and other crops that can be harvested short period of time. This particular potion of land is mostly river during rainy season. No one enters there for anything except for fishing.

The flooding covers even the main roads and makes it difficult for the road to be accessed in most cases unless you enter the water. Neighbours go there to fish and they usually catch reasonable sizes of fishes.

This January is not an exception. I was opportuned to visit this area on Tuesday to see what is going on there. I found out the type of crops they plant for the period, their source of water to water the crops, the amount they pay for the period and the efforts they make to ensure that they recoup their money and make profits.

	this is where the water flows during rainy season. It's dry now
The place is being cleared before planting

The crops they plant

It is certain that it is not all crops that they plant there. The reasons is that in a short while, rain will start falling. And when it does, no one can go in there for farming. So, they carefully select crops that they can grow and harvest before the rain starts flooding the area.

Crops like pumpkin leaf, water leaf, cassava that can be harvested in 6 months time, corn, and other leaves that can serve as spices for food.

Their source of water

Well, it is dry season and all the water that usually flood there has dried up. Some get or source their water from a nearby borehole, others from elsewhere but there is something I noticed. I saw someone carrying a bucket of water to water her crops. I didn't see any pipe that shows that her source of water supply was from borehole. I had to go closer. I saw that she (they) dug the ground to where they were able to dig out water. It therefore means that there is water underneath where they are but the dry season pushed it down. When I asked, I was told that that is how they get water to water their plants.

	their source of water
You can sight a woman carrying water

The amount they pay to get a small portion

Well, this depends on the size of the portion and through whom you are getting it. But they do give it out from N5000 (10 steem ) and above. But the most important thing is that you must recoup your cash before the end of the period though depends on the efforts you put in.

The efforts the farmers put in

A farmer is known to be very hard working elsewhere, they won't achieve anything.ost of them spend most of their time there. Right from the time the portion is allocator you, you will have to clear the bush, burn the grass, till the ground for some, then plant your crops. The next will be to start watering it. You are free to source your water from anywhere. They you must always there to monitor the progress.

The pictures above show the farmers who are working hard to plant their crops. As you can see, they are planting water leaf. This involves wetting the ground with water, using small knives to till the ground and insert the stems on the ground. Even under the sun, they are still busy with it. They won't waste any time or spare any efforts so that they can be able to get something tangible out of it before the flood comes.

From my observation, some are still at the initial stage while others are already harvesting or almost harvesting. I guess these ones started earlier than others. And this means that they might harvest several times and this is to their benefit.

Below are more pictures I took at the scene

	spice (curry leaves)
Corn
	pumpkin
My selfie at the scene

What I love so much is the fact that most people are beginning to understand that growing our own food is the way forward, hence they are taking every opportunity available to them. Growing our own food is the answer to the economic situation we are facing right now. Let's do it together!

All the pictures are mine