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Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
THE Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), have sensitized farmers in Ogun state on importance of climate change to agricultural production.
Speaking at the one day agricultural stakeholders workshop organised in partnership with African Activists for Climate Justice (AACJ), Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) and Oxfam, in Abeokuta, on Wednesday, Oyegade Adeleke, Head, Climate Service Unit , NIMET, noted that the training would allow equip farmers with enough climate change information to plan their planting season.
Adeleke further explained that the training would help the farmers to interprete climate information. appropriately.
He noted that as an agency of government, NIMET was saddled with the responsibility of providing the information and ensure the information reach as many people as possible.
The NIMET head of climate service unit disclosed that crop weather calendar had been provided to give farmers timely information about seeds to promote local crops production.
“The crop weather calendar contains information about next planting dates based on harvesting period. This tools support farmers on taking appropriate decisions on crops and their sowing period, taking note of the agro -ecological dimension,” Adeleke noted.
He, however, urged farmers to use climate information as much as possible, adding that it would assist them not only in planting but during the harvest.
Shiro Olaoluwa, Programme Officer for HEDA, stressed that farmers in Ogun needed to know the importance of climate change on food production which remained important to food security.
“What we are doing today is to improve the access of farmers to climate service; how does a farmer get information about what the weather is going to be and what the implication will be for him?
“Most of them don’t have climate information, and many would complain that all they farm got burnt, hence, this workshop, he submitted.
One of the participants, Prof. Adebisi Moruf, a Professor of Seed Science and Technology, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, noted that lack of climate information had affected farmers production and productivity.
He emphasised that there was a need for government to intensify efforts in sensitizing farmers especially at the local level on the need to have climate information so that farmers would be able to utilize the information.
