Normal rainfall expected this year, says NiMet

Professor Sani Abubakar Mashi

·        Planting can start from April to avoid losses, says Zero Hunger’s Arosanyin

Normal rainfall is expected this year, especially in some parts of the North but this would not rule out possibility of flash floods. This was disclosed by the Director General, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Sani Mashi during the public presentation of the agency’s 2018 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) in Abuja.

 He said: “It is necessary to state that the expected normal rainfall in parts of the country does not rule out the possibility of isolated flash floods due to high intensity rainfall at the peak of the season, especially in places that are naturally prone to flooding, and it is also important to note that in every season, dry spells occur and in certain cases, it leads to crop losses,” he said

Mashi advised that to mitigate the negative impact of climate change, members of the public should plant trees which would contribute to improving rainfall pattern and performance noting that earliest onset is expected to be from March 1 around the coastal region of the South-South part of the country as places like Sokoto, Bauchi, Lafia, Makurdi, Ado-Ekiti, Calabar and Eket are also expected to experience early onsets, while places like Yelwa, Bida, Abuja, Iseyin, Abeokuta, Lagos and Umuahia are expected to experience late onset, and other parts of the country were expected to have normal onset.

The Director-General while speaking on how the prediction would affect farmers also said that farmers should supplement water stress with irrigation. “Farmers around Sokoto, Katsina, Yobe, Zamfara, Kebbi, Jigawa, Kano and Borno are advised to source for early maturing and drought resistant varieties of seed to avoid waste of resources, as the cessation dates of the rains in 2018 are predicted to start from September 28 in the North West and reach the coastal states around December 19.

Continuing, he said, “the potential moisture availability, during the onset period will not be sufficient for plant growth and development. Early cessation in areas such as Jos, Ibi, and Ilorin are likely to create water stress, therefore there is need to supplement with irrigation”.

He, however, urged farmers and other stakeholders to get in touch with NiMet to access meteorological information and updates within the growing season.

The National Coordinator, of the Zero Hunger Commodities, Dr Tunde Arosanyin  commended the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) for timely presentation of 2018 SRP  to the public.

Arosanyin said that the prediction was a welcome development because it would help farmers to plan properly before going into the 2018 farming season to avoid losses.

He explained that the 2017 SRP reviewed by the Agency showed 95.3 per cent achievement in terms of performance, “indicating there was head way in the agriculture sector…it is an excellent one for the farmers. However, the information was in English and that was a big gap because we wish it could be adopted in various languages for rural farmers. This is because 70 per cent of our farming population does not have good education to be able to interpret some of the forecast’’.

He continued: “The burden is on us the farmers’ leaders at Zero Hunger Commodities to see how we can organize training at state and local levels to keep farmers abreast of the predictions. He added that the association will inform farmers when rainfall will start and the quantity, when to expect dry spell, the length and the intensity so as to take proactive steps before the occurrences to reduce wastage.”

The coordinator said the SRP was a good step in the right direction as agriculture became the major driver of the Nigerian economy.

Adding that “it is critical for the Nigerian government to support farmers at all levels to be able to implement and interpret the SRP data effectively.”

He also advised farmers to take the predictions seriously and not to rush into planting yet but wait until the rainfall set in properly.

He said “from the prediction today, there is going to be early rainfall but not advisable to plant until the rain has set in properly because there is no enough moisture presently in the soil. So, planting can start from April to avoid losses recorded in previous years.”

The national coordinator appealed to state and Federal Government to bring back extension services to help in passing on information to farmers.

He explained that “ordinarily, it is the role of extension officers at the state and federal level to educate farmers on farming techniques in different languages for easy assimilation. However, they are no longer there but farmers organizations have willing collaborative partners to carry out the assignment effectively”.