Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation Joseph Utsev says the federal government is committed to creating an environment that will enable the private sector to thrive in the water sector.

This, he said, would boost food production through the application of modern technologies in irrigated agriculture.

Mr Utsev stated this at the Northern Regional workshop of the Nigeria National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage held on Tuesday in Lafia, Nasarawa.

The minister said that the government was willing to support initiatives that would help rejuvenate and sustain the potential of the water sector in line with President Bola Tinubu’s ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’, focusing on food security and poverty eradication.

He noted that irrigation for agricultural growth was crucial to the nation’s economic recovery drive.

Mr Utsev listed some of the water sector’s challenges, including outdated technology and the lack of infrastructure maintenance.

He said that it was crucial for stakeholders to adopt more sustainable practices by leveraging technologies such as precision irrigation, satellite monitoring, and automation to improve on the use of water.

The minister commended NINCID for creating a forum to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing and discussing best practices and challenges towards driving policy initiatives and solutions for agricultural transformation.

Declaring the workshop open, Governor Abdullahi Sule thanked the organiser for choosing Nasarawa for the workshop, which is aimed at boosting food production through irrigation.

Esther Oluniyi, the director of Irrigation and Drainage at the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation and chairwoman of NINCID, said the workshop was meant to reawaken the need for effective system management for irrigation and drainage to boost food production.

She maintained that dependence solely on rain-fed agriculture could not guarantee food security, hence the need to deploy all-year-round farming using irrigation.

Ms Oluniyi highlighted some new farming methods, including greenhouse, vertical farming, and hydro-phonic farming.

She implored Nigerians, especially youths, to approach any of the country’s 12 river basin development authorities to get information on how to go about new irrigation farming methods.

(NAN)