Farmers may witness bumper harvests for the 2018 farming season as the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) 2018 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) shows normal rainfall will persist across the country.
The SRP report officially presented yesterday in Abuja by the Minister of State, Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika indicated a normal length of season with normal rainfall amounts in most parts of the country.
According to the highlights of the report with the theme “seasonal climate forecasting for sustainable development” presented by the Director-General, NiMet, Prof. Sani Mashi, the prediction “Shouldn’t present any major threat to agriculture.”
Giving specifics on the predictions he 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. 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.
