Meteorological Agency urges Nigerian Farmers to regard Weather Prediction Information
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) has attributed the huge loss of agricultural produce in the country to farmers’ non-adherence to its weather prediction information.
The NiMET Head of Climate Services Unit, Adeleke Oyegade, pointed this out at a one-day mid-season interactive workshop for agriculture stakeholders in Abeokuta, Ogun State, South-west Nigeria.
It was organized by HEDA in conjunction with Oxfam, the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), African Activists for Climate Justice (AACJ) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands to sensitize farmers on the importance of utilizing climate information to boost productivity.
“The utilization of climate information by farmers is critical to achieving food security in Nigeria.
“I appeal to farmers to take advantage of its weather prediction information to plan their farming activities and crop-planting calendar to mitigate pre-and post-harvest losses of agricultural produce,” he said.
Also, he called for collaboration between NiMET, farmers and other stakeholders to ensure that farmers get accurate and reliable climate information that will prevent losses of produce due to harsh weather conditions.
“As an agency commissioned by the government to provide climate information and to make sure that the information reaches as many people as possible, what NiMET is doing is that every year, this information is provided for the whole country and also scales it down for all the states of the federation.
“It is important that farmers have timely and correct weather information to help them plan their activities because this will mitigate the huge losses they record yearly as a result of unfavourable weather conditions.
“Farmers must consider weather information before embarking on farming activities.
“It is painful that so much effort is being put into the production of climate information for farmers to plan their activities, but they are not making use of the information,” said the NiMET Head of Climate Services Unit.
Source: Agro Nigeria
