Mr Joseph Alozie, General Manager, Climate Services, Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMet), on Friday said that the heavy rainfall recorded since the beginning of August would increase farm yields in 2014.
Alozie made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He said that the new rainfall pattern being witnessed would assist farmers to replant seedlings of short duration and boost their harvest.
He allayed fears of negative effect of the rains, saying that the August rainfall was not a phenomenon to be worried about in upland areas like the Federal Capital Territory.
“The new rainfall trend in August is good news for agriculture and we will expect a positive outcome in the long run for farmers.
“If farmers heeded NiMet’s forecast early this year, and with the new rainfall trend, which is positive, there is the possibility that seedlings of short duration can be replaced to improve yields.
“NiMet, through its daily, weekly and monthly monitoring of the weather, including the seasonal rainfall predictions, observed that at the end of July, 2014, there was a “water stress” in and around FCT,’’ Alozie said.
According to him, water stress means that in 30 years, there was normal rainfall in FCT but since the beginning of August the rains have picked up.
He said that from NiMet’s projection, the rainy season in the northern part of the country was expected to stop towards the middle of October “instead of end of October in areas like Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa and Borno.”
“This is a projection and it is built around probability. Now, there is a high probability that this will happen and every time the climate changes, NiMet will also re-issue a statement based on the changing climate.
“For the rest of the country, like Abuja down to the South, the normal season is projected in August and September; these are the peak periods of the rainy season,’’ he said.
He said that 2014 rainy season would likely end earlier than expected across the country. (NAN)
