Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
farmers dig about six of these wells per farm area of 0.1ha which are
optimally spaced (distances between wells is usually 6-10m) to create the
shortest travelling distance in watering their crops. Irrigators either use
family members or hire labour to dig these wells. A total of four labourers
are capable of digging one well of 4m depth in two days, which on average
costs $20/well. Later into the season as the groundwater level drops, the
farmer digs deeper for more water and may end up with a depth of 8m by
the end of the season.
Figure 5.6: a) Shallow well with hip pump b) Rope and Bucket Watering
used in Temporal Shallow well farms.
The common water lifting method used for this source of water is the rope
and bucket. Treadle pumps and hip pumps have been introduced by NGOs
and researchers in the Atankwidi area but less than 1% of all temporal
shallow well irrigators in Atankwidi use them. The cost of treadle pumps on
the Ghanaian market in the sub-basin ranges from $80 to $110, and they
were not popular among the irrigation farmers surveyed in Ghana and
Burkina Faso.
Farmers using rope and bucket, water their farms more regularly than other
technologies. They irrigate their crops almost every morning, while some do
the irrigation both morning and evening. They have specific number of
buckets per bed which they apply to their farms. The number of buckets per
bed is increased when the fruits flower and is later reduced when the fruits
are riped.
Bio-physical features
Temporal shallow well irrigation technology is associated with relatively
small farm sizes ranging from 0.01ha to 0.1ha. Tomato is the main crop
cultivated under this technology. Temporal shallow well farms are located
along river channels which are heavily occupied with irrigators such that
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