ICRISAT Archival Report 2006 - The seedlings of success in the ...

Three systems were developed:
a. The “Thrifty System” is based on a 200-liter water-barrel reservoir serving an irrigated area of 80m 2 . The barrel
can be hand-filled from a nearby water source. This system is suited for the very small-scale producer, mostly in
communal village gardens.
b. The “Commercial System” is based on a concrete ring reservoir serving an area of 500m 2 (Pic.1).
“Commercial system” in a Niger
village. Note water reservoir on left.
Woman holds bolting-tolerant Noga
lettuce variety selected by
ICRISAT-Niamey
c. The “Cluster System” is based on the supply of water from a large reservoir, preferably a dam, to a large number
(clusters) of AMGs concentrated in one area (see Pic.2).
The Cluster system. Water flows from a dam (or another
large reservoir) situated three meters above the field (not
seen) through a central distribution line (center-right) and
is supplied to a cluster of AMGs (right and left). The blue
barrels serve as fertilizer tanks
This is the preferred system because of savings in pumps,
reservoirs and energy. Concentration of many producers
in one place has additional advantages such as mutual
learning, joint purchasing of supplies and joint marketing.
In all models the irrigated area can be expanded by adding
water storage volume or by connecting additional drip
systems to existing reservoirs. In the “commercial” model the volume of the reservoir is calculated according to
maximum daily water demand by the crops. For example in most of the Sahel peak plant water use is about
8mm/day. Hence the volume of the reservoir that serves a 500m 2 unit is 4m 3 .
Over the last three years ICRISAT-Niamey fostered the installation of about 1,500 AMG units of all three models in
nine Sahelian countries. The number of newly installed units is steadily growing.
The AMG is easy to operate and maintain, saves energy, labor and other inputs. Significant yield increases for some
crops are recorded and product quality is enhanced.
Incorporation of quality date palms varieties (possible in the Sahel due to high ambient temperatures) significantly
increases the profitability of the system.
Fig. 2 gives the annual profit per m 2 of a conventional market garden, and an AMG, both planted with vegetables
and of an AMG with date palms intercropped with vegetables. The area of each of the three systems is 500m 2 . Nine
date palms are planted, each giving an annual fruit yield of 100kg/palm. The higher profits from the AMG resulted
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