NIMET warns farmers against early cropping

Osunlalu, who stated this at the weekend, urged farmers to wait for the rain to start falling and not rely on the sporadic rains to commence their farming activities.According to him, the intermittent rainfalls being experienced were not adequate to prepare the soil for proper germination of crops, saying any crop planted now would wither […]

Osunlalu, who stated this at the weekend, urged farmers to wait for the rain to start falling and not rely on the sporadic rains to commence their farming activities.
According to him, the intermittent rainfalls being experienced were not adequate to prepare the soil for proper germination of crops, saying any crop planted now would wither away.
The inspector said that this year’s predicted rainfall for the North-Central and Southern parts of the country was a normal onset that would support healthy yields for cereal and tuber crops throughout the farming season.
Osunlalu said that the prediction of NIMET put the onset period of the rains at April 15 and would, expectedly, be followed by unceasing rainfalls, urging farmers to take advantage of the predictions to plant their crops early enough to enable bumper harvests.
He, however, attributed the early or false onset of the rains, with the likelihood of shorter duration of the rainy season as well as high intensity and flash flooding among other identified climatic conditions to the much touted climate change.