Micro irrigation and agro-ecology facing climate change
Madagascar, Itasy and Analamanga regions
2000 producers including 80 relay farmers
€ 428 000 total / still to be collected: € 50,000
Given the increase in drought periods due to climate change, water scarcity threatens Malagasy soil fertility and crop yields. Micro-drip irrigation reduces water consumption and other adverse effects such as the leaching of nutrients, soil compaction, disease development and many more effects. The promotion of this technique and training of the producers to agro-ecological practices should go with the installation of 2000 micro irrigation equipment and 60 treadle pumps.
For a family of farmers, pay-back of such equipment is done in a single market gardening campaign. The evaluation carried out with families having adopted these types of equipment has shown several benefits; firstly irrigation is possible of an area 5 to 6 times larger with the same quantity of water, secondly, it is possible to obtain a margin of 70% to more than 200 % yield depending on the production, and lastly a production increase of 50% is possible, while reducing pesticides by 80%.
This has also led to the creation of a distribution network of 3 micro enterprises and 56 dealers. Creation of experimental plots (school fields) combining micro irrigation and agro-ecological cultures is essential to sustain these practices.