ENUGU – The Enugu State Commissioner for Agriculture, Chief Mike Eneh, has appealed to farmers to plant improved seedlings, considering the Nigeria Meteorological Agency’s (NiMeT) prediction of short rainfall in 2015.
Eneh gave the advice on Tuesday in Enugu during a sensitisation workshop organised by the state chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) for farmers in the state.
“l want farmers in Enugu State to make proper use of the tips by NiMeT and plant as soon as the rains begin.
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“Information by NIMET has it that there will not be enough rainfall this year and that the rain will end early.
“As soon as the rains begin, cultivate your farm with improved seedlings and do away with seedlings with long maturity periods.”
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Eneh said that the workshop would afford farmers the opportunity to get enlightened about the prediction and make good use of the information.
The commissioner expressed regret that the state had the least number of registered farmers in the country, which, he said, was not good for crop production in the state.
He said that the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the Federal Government afforded farmers the opportunity to invest massively in the sector.
“Agriculture is now the next destination for investment in Nigeria. So we have to leave subsistence farming and embrace commercial agriculture,” he said.
Earlier in his address, the AFAN Chairman, Chief Sunny Nwatarali, said that it had become imperative to acquaint farmers with issues that would likely arise during their farming activities.
Nwatarali urged farmers to use the information from NIMET to plan their activities so that their farming activities would not be futile.
He said that the dearth of extension services had become a national issue as farmers no longer enjoyed such technical assistance.
“It is because of this awareness that the state chapter of AFAN has decided to mobilise professionals to visit various farms and settlements to impact vital agro-technical knowledge to farmers,” Eneh said.
NAN reports that the workshop also featured voter education to provide farmers with better understanding of the voting process. (NAN)
