Access to water is becoming more and more problematic in the market gardening area of Niayes, nicknamed the granary of Senegal, about a hundred kilometers north of the capital Dakar. So much so that some producers, who see the water tables dropping, have chosen to change their practices.
Samba Dia, for example, had to invest in motor pumps and fairly deep mini-boreholes, whereas the field where he now grows papaya trees was once a swamp: “Before, we used to dig and find waterhe confirms. But currently it’s going down, so we have to drill small holes, up to 20 meters. We have plenty of water there.”
“The cause is the falling rainfall every year. It’s worrying.”
Samba Dia, farmerat franceinfo
Thierno Gningue, producer since 2017, uses a spray watering technique, with strips that pass between his crops, with holes every 20 centimeters and which let fine droplets escape. “With this technique, I save water and fuel. When I mulch, it retains moisture. After watering, I can stay three or four days without watering.” In another field, Omar Diop is trying out a drip system to grow bitter watermelons and eggplants. “It’s so as not to waste water. We have factories around, which have motor pumps, and that poses a problem.”
To deal with this tension around the availability of water, a “local water platform” was created in the Mboro area, in particular in partnership with various state institutions. The idea is that the actors consult on a rational use of this resource. “If we want to encourage farmers to use new systems such as sprinkling or drip, this water must not be loaded with iron and other elements that could clog the irrigation pipes., underlines Medoune Loum, who chairs the platform. And, he adds, “For the water table to regenerate, you need rain. And to have rain, you have to reforest.”
5,000 plants are already growing in the nursery, for the next reforestation campaign.