NIMET prediction: Bauchi farmers cautioned against planting on flood-prone areas

Farmers in Bauchi State have been cautioned against planting in flood prone areas to avoid falling victims of flooding this farming season.

The governor of the state, Bala Mohammed, gave the warning during the flagging-off ceremony of the 2023 farming season Tuesday in Azare town, Katagum Local Government Area of the state.

The governor said, “I want to draw the attention of our farmers to this year’s farming seasonal rainfall prediction (SRP) by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) which indicates that in most parts of the state, planting season is going to start towards the end of this month (May), and there may be flooding in some parts of the state.

Mohammed urged the farmers to make good use of the NIMET prediction and avoid planting in areas that are highly prone to flooding.

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The governor, who also recalled that the influx of army worms were recorded in some parts of the state at the beginning of last year’s farming season which resulted to destruction of crops in many farms, said concerted efforts were made by the government to control them through rapid spray.

“In order to avoid a recurrence of the incident this year, the ministry of agriculture has been directed to immediately make  requirements and other measures to control the army worms menace immediately,” he said.

Mohammed directed that fertilizer be sold directly to the farmers to guard them against falling prey to shylock marketers.

According to the governor, adequate fertilizer and other farming implements have been made available to meet the growing  demands of farmers across the state to ensure food sufficiency.

Mohammed also announced that the state government has through the Bauchi Fertilizer Blending Company blended 200 trucks of NPK 20-10-10 fertilizer, adding that the production of the commodity will continue up to next year.

The governor said that NPK fertilizer is to be sold to farmers at N15,000 against the production cost of N17,800, maintaining that the gesture was meant to ease the financial burden on farmers in accessing the commodity.