NALDA plans electric tractors, solar irrigation for farms

The National Agricultural Land Development Authority on Tuesday said it is developing climate-smart farm estates powered by solar energy and electric machinery.

This is as it moves to reduce farmers’ dependence on rainfall and attract carbon credit financing for agricultural projects.

The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of NALDA, Cornelius Adebayo, disclosed this at a session on green industrialisation, critical minerals and energy security at the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Antalya, Türkiye.

Speaking during the session, which focused on climate-smart farming, the CEO stated that the agency was piloting a farm estate where land clearing would be done with electric bulldozers, while electric tractors and solar-powered irrigation systems would be deployed to reduce emissions across the production process.

“Our hope as an agency is to earn carbon credits from such farm estates and farm locations,” Adebayo said.

He added, “We use zero-emission areas. We’re introducing electric bulldozers; we’re introducing electric tractors in that particular location. And we are introducing solar power irrigation for full irrigation of the scheme. Everything, every single thing within that facility is climate conscious. Every single thing. And that is our first location that is supposed to be a fully clean location.”

The agency’s plan comes as Nigerian farmers contend with increasingly unpredictable rainfall, which has disrupted planting seasons and exposed rain-fed agriculture to climate risks.

Adebayo said the experience of the current planting season had reinforced the need to move towards irrigation-based farming.

He said, “The rains were not predicted in Nigeria. And the farmers- a lot of farmers that don’t do the planting yet were the lucky ones. The ones that did the planting were quite unlucky this year. So it shows that we need to move from rain-fed to climate-smart to irrigation-based farming. And this is one direction that Nigeria is going in headway.”

He disclosed that NALDA was working with investors to provide solar irrigation facilities to farmers, with users paying for the services based on the hectares cultivated. The model, he said, would make the facilities easier to extend to more farming communities.

However, the chief executive acknowledged that electric machinery and clean-energy systems cost more than conventional equipment. He said the Bank of Industry and other development finance institutions were important to bridging the financing gap by providing capital at lower interest rates.

NALDA further stated that the agency is promoting an anchor-based farming arrangement designed to reduce the financial burden and production risks faced by smallholder farmers.

Under the model, farmers receive land, training, extension services, seeds, fertiliser and other inputs through an anchor investor. The investor also arranges mechanisation services and buys the produce after harvest, deducting the cost of services and inputs supplied.

Adebayo said the arrangement meant farmers would not have to raise all the capital needed to cultivate their land before planting.

“The person that is taking the risk for that expansion is the anchor, not the smallholder. So it’s just making everything easier for that smallholder farmer to scale up. If the crop fails, it’s really the anchor that takes the hit,” he said.

He added that agricultural insurance and risk-sharing institutions would provide additional protection, although the anchor investor would bear the largest share of the production risk.

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The agency is also linking farm development to rural security, arguing that farmers working in organised clusters are easier to protect than those operating on scattered plots.

Adebayo said NALDA planned to use drones to monitor farm boundaries and detect threats around its estates, while security agencies could be deployed more effectively to concentrated farming communities.

He said the model was also intended to attract young people by providing housing, solar-powered electricity, clean water and recreational facilities within farm settlements.

The PUNCH reports that NALDA was established in 1992 under an Act of Parliament to support agricultural land development, improve the use of rural land resources, expand food production and create employment.

The authority was reactivated in 2020 after years of inactivity, with integrated farm estates among its programmes.

In a separate technical presentation at the Nigerian Pavilion, NALDA outlined how its Green Hope Project was combining agroforestry, food production and youth participation to address environmental degradation and strengthen food security.

The CEOs Special Adviser on Projects, Al-Mustapha Ibrahim, said the agency’s Green Hope Project had mobilised more than 400 volunteers to plant approximately 5,000 trees across five sites in Ogun, Plateau, Kwara states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The project covered 50 hectares and included mango, avocado and coconut trees intended to support both environmental restoration and future food production.

The sites include Odogbolu in Ogun State, where 1,000 trees were planted across 10 hectares with 80 volunteers; Barkin Ladi in Plateau State, with 500 trees across five hectares and 40 volunteers; and Oke Onigbin in Kwara State, where 1,500 trees were planted across 20 hectares with 120 volunteers.

The remaining locations are Iporin in Kwara State, where 1,000 trees were planted across five hectares with 80 volunteers, and the University of Abuja, where another 1,000 trees were planted across 10 hectares with 80 volunteers.

The presentation identified mango, avocado and coconut among the food-producing tree species planted under the initiative. Beyond restoring vegetation, the trees are expected to provide fruits for household consumption and commercial sale as they mature, creating additional income opportunities for farming communities.

NALDA said the initiative was designed to make environmental restoration part of agricultural production rather than treating tree planting as a stand-alone exercise. The trees are expected to improve land cover, protect soil, support biodiversity and strengthen the resilience of agricultural landscapes to climate-related pressures.

The agency also incorporated perimeter fencing to protect newly planted areas, stressing the need for site protection and post-planting management to ensure the trees survive and mature.

The project received support from the Agricultural Research and Training Institute, the National Council on Climate Change and the National Horticultural Research Institute.

The collaboration, according to the presentation, demonstrated the importance of partnerships among government agencies and technical institutions in addressing agricultural and environmental challenges.

The initiative also targets young people through practical participation in tree planting and environmental education, with more than 400 volunteers involved in the first phase, giving them opportunities to work with agricultural and environmental stakeholders and build experience in sustainable agriculture.