The Ekiti State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Ebenezer Boluwade, has urged farmers to embrace climate agricultural practices as measures to address the 2024 Little Dry Season (LDS) projected to start from 22 July through August.
Boluwade noted that an earlier advisory issued through the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet)’s Seasonal Climate Prediction for 2024, highlighted the state amongst others within the forecast region was expected to experience a dry spell of 20 to 30 days.
Boluwade said the weather clouding in some parts of Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti and Lagos was a wake-up call for farmers to embrace “Climate-smart agricultural practices” and align production with the farming calendar. He said, “The occurrence of 2024 Little Dry Season (LDS) is projected to start from 22 July through August 2024. Some parts of Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti and Lagos are likely to have a low to moderate event with a coverage of about 18-27 days.”
Boluwade urged the farmers to key to harness the subsidised improved seeds distribution programme of the state government, the continuous land clearing and establishment of cluster farms, and the subsidised agro-chemicals distribution programme. According to him, the federal government’s National Agricultural Growth Scheme (NAGS) where farm inputs would be subsidised by 75 per cent will commence soon. In his words, ten clusters have been identified as the distribution points.