Habibu Zakari, the Kebbi branch office manager of Cultivating New Frontier in Agriculture (CNFA) under USAID’s Feed The Future, has counselled farmers on early preparations following the commencement of rainfall.

He gave the advice in an interview in Birnin Kebbi while reacting to the usual and early first rainfall in the town.

The first rainfall in 2023 started with little shower drops at about 7:00 p.m. on Monday and became heavy rain lasting for about an hour.

Mr Zakari said, “Based on the weather prediction by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), we are going to experience early rainfall this year, and the rains might not last longer. Hence the need for farmers to start clearing their farmlands very early.”

The agricultural expert enjoined farmers to go for improved seed varieties from licenced authorities and dealers, adding that they shouldn’t rely on their traditional seeds. Instead, they should ensure they use early and extra early maturing varieties to avoid any eventualities.

Citing examples of seed varieties that used to take 120 days and above to mature, Mr Zakari said new early maturing varieties that take just 70 to 90 days were introduced and readily available for farmers’ use. He also advised the farmers to embrace new farming technologies to improve their yields and contribute to national food security.

A farmer in the area, Hamza Galaduma, urged his colleagues not to wait until the rains became rampant to start preparation for the farming year.

Mr Galaduma, the chairman of Kebbi’s chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), called on farmers to venture into livestock farming to reap double advantages of using the meat for commercial and domestic purposes as animal dung for soil fertility.

(NAN)