Don decries negative impact of climate change on agric production

Akin Omotayo,  the co- ordinator of West African Agricultural Productivity Programmes (WAAPP) at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) has decried losses which farmers in the Southwest region of the country record on agricultural produce as a result of climate change.

He specifically cited unfavourable pattern of rainfall in the region as impediment to agricultural production and farmers’ investment in crop plantations, saying that little or no irrigation system for farmers has greatly affected yields and revenue of the farmers.

Omotayo who is also the Director, Institute of Food Security, Environmental Resources and Agricultural Research (IFSERAR) at FUNAAB, explained that government’s intent to ensure food security in the country might suffer setbacks if effective irrigation systems were not established in the Southwest considered to be one of the food baskets of the country.

While urging World Bank to channel intervention to irrigation system in the country, he requested Nigerian government to work towards the actualisation and establishment of effective irrigation syatem in the Southwest to complement irrigation system already in practice in the Northern region.

“Irrigation farming is the major problem of farmers in this part of the country. In the North, irrigation is well
developed, that makes farmers in the region work throughout the year. But, in the South, there is no irrigation. Here, we are working on trial-and-error, you can’t predict your yields”, he said.

“In the North where they have irrigation, you can predict your yields because irrigation allows you to produce throughout the year and more investment is committed to farming in the North, and young people have interest in agricultural practice.

“Our pattern of rainfall is just like that of the North now, because of climate change. Before now, we used to have rainfall in larger part of the year and we are not conscious of that and government is not doing anything to that effect‎. That is why the World Bank should extend intervention to irrigation”, he added.

RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta