Likely bumper harvests as NiMet forecasts normal rainfall


Farmers in Nigeria are likely to experience bumper harvests at the end of this year’s wet season following the release of Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) 2018 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) which indicates that normal rainfall will persist across the country.


Sen. Hadi Sirika, Minister of State, Aviation, who disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at the official presentation of the SRP report, explained that the expectation for this year is a normal length of season with normal rainfall amounts in most parts of the country.

The report entitled, "seasonal climate forecasting for sustainable development" and presented by the Prof. Sani Mashi, Director-General, NiMet, noted that this year’s rainfall "shouldn't present any major threat to agriculture."

Giving specifics on the predictions, Mashi said: "The earliest onset date is expected to be from March 1 around the coastal region of the South-South. The onset date changes as we move northwards with areas around Maiduguri, Potiskum and Nguru predicted to have onset from June 1."

Thus "the country is expected to experience normal-to-earlier-than-normal onset. Places like Sokoto, Bauchi, Kaduna, Lafia, Makurdi and Ado-Ekiti, Akure,Calabar and Eket are expected to experience early onset while places like Yelwa, Bida, Abuja, Iseyin, Abeokuta, Lagos Island, Ikeja and Umuahia are likely to experience late onset. Other parts of the country are expected to have normal onset."

On cessation of rains, he said "the end of 2018 growing season is expected to commence from September 28. The earliest cessation date is expected to start from September 28. This will occur around Sokoto and Katsina. The southern coastal cities, with ample oil moisture should have their cessation as late as December."

But the "cessation of growing season is expected to be normal across most parts of the country. Early cessation is anticipated over Jos, Ibi, Uyo and Ikeja. Cessation will however be little delayed over parts of Ibadan, Ondo and Warri" the NiMet DG explained.

Also "the length of growing season is expected to range from 117 days to 287 days increasing from north to south. Normal length of growing season is predicted for most parts of the country. However cities such as Yelwa, Bida, Shai, Ikeja, Abuja, Jos, Ibi, Makurdi, Ogoja and Ikom are expected to experience longer than normal length of growing season" he noted.

On the impact, he said "farmers around Sokoto, Katisna, Yobe, Zanfara, Kebbi, Jigawa, Kano and Borno are advised to source for early maturing and drought resistant varieties of seeds to avoid waste of resources. Farmers in Yelwa, Bida and Abuja are advised not to plant early."

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