Irrigated Sorghum as a Strategy for Farmers’ Climate Resilience in Chad

Sorghum is a cereal crop traditionally grown under rainfed conditions in sub-Saharan Africa. In the context of climate change, its production is increasingly jeopardized. Growing this crop during the dry season under irrigation is being explored as an innovative approach to enhance farmers’ climate resilience. A field experiment conducted at a Technology and Innovation Park (TIP) established at the headquarters of the Institut Tchadien de Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (ITRAD), located between 14°57.6ʹ and 15°2.4ʹ North latitude and 12°4.8ʹ and 12°9.6ʹ East longitude, using the rainfed sorghum variety S35, provided key insights into this concern. A preliminary soil fertility assessment was carried out, and integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) techniques were applied throughout the experiment. The objective of this study is to demonstrate that, in the context of climate change, farmers can improve their resilience by cultivating rainfed sorghum varieties under irrigation during the dry season. Analysis of variance of the results obtained showed that, under such conditions, the S35 sorghum variety nearly tripled its rainfed yield (5.82 t·ha-1, compared to 2 t·ha-1). The study highlights that access to agricultural water is essential for farmers seeking to strengthen their climate resilience. Cultivating sorghum under irrigation also represents an innovation for optimizing the use of hydro-agricultural infrastructure, which is generally reserved for rice and market gardening.