Agriculture in Senegal - Production Resources and Inputs

Production Resources and Inputs

The construction of the Diama and Manantali dams in 1986 created an additional 240,000 hectares of land which can be irrigated on the Senegalese side of the Senegal River in northern Senegal. This gave the country the potential to diversify its crop base and increase food production. However, operation of the upstream dam has also reduced annual floods along the floodplain, where an ancient and productive form of recessional irrigation has been practiced for hundreds of years. Recessional irrigation is still practiced along these flood plains for an estimated 50,000 hectares.

The best agricultural land along the Senegal River is in the alluvial valley between Bakel and Dagana, and this area is the most densely populated part of the valley. As the floods retreat each year, a variety of crops (including millet, sorghum, rice, and vegetables) are sown, and they grow and mature quickly. These areas also provide pasture for livestock. But because rainfall has been lower in Guinea in 2006, the water table of the Senegal River and its effluents was at a critical level and comparable to a dry year as of early 2007. This situation was expected to limit recession and dry season productions.

In addition, pests such as insects and locusts have been reported on peanuts, cowpeas, and sorghum. In northern Senegal, rice production will likely be seriously affected this year by the extensive invasion of grain eating birds - the red-billed quelea (Quelea quelea).

During this growing season the Government has subsidized the agricultural sector at a level of about $40 million. This investment included the purchase of 40,000 tons of peanut seeds, payments to peanut producers of up to $10 million, the purchase of seeds of special crops such as sesame, cassava, corn, and hisbiscus sabdarifa (bissap), and for the subsidy of fertilizers. The government has also contributed $10 million for the purchase of farming equipment.