A one-day training, sensitization and agro awareness creation on climate smart Agricultural practices, mitigation and adaptation has ended with advice to farmers to be adequately informed on weather forecast before embarking on any farming activity.
The training, which took place at the Agricultural Development Programme, ADP, hall in Awka, attracted Rice and Cassava farmers, Extension Agents, Liaison officers and members of the State Programme Management Unit.
while declaring the training open, the State Programme Co-ordinator, Federal government IFAD-VCDP, Mr. Nnamdi Agwuncha, said that the training was aimed at bequeathing to the farmers , the requisite knowledge on weather forecast and benefits of insurance to further protect the millions of naira worth of farm inputs, recently disbursed to them.
While urging them to protect their farm against natural disasters to have a fallback, Mr. Agwuncha announced that the federal government has paid fifty percent of their insurance cover, State government twenty-five percent remaining their own twenty-five percent, which according to him is about two thousand naira per hectare.
Contributing, the state Agric Production Officer, Federal government IFAD-VCDP, Mr Emmanuel Chukwukwelu, who regretted that the present climate change is greatly devastating farming activities, urged the participants to step-down the knowledge garnered to other members of their cooperative societies and clusters.
Speaking on “Mitigation and Adaptation Measures, the branch manager, Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation, Awka, Mrs. Susan Agbala-Onyenweife, disclosed that about four-million-naira indemnity was paid to Anambra State farmers last farming season, because according to her, there was no flood.
Mrs. Agbala-Onyenweife charged farmers to always keep an accurate record of their farming activities and report to their office, within seventy-two hours after disaster for easy and speedy claim.
The officer-in-charge, Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Awka, Mr Nnamdi Nwaeze, while taking participants on Review of 2020 Nigerian Meteorological Agency weather forecast as it affects each local government area, asked them to ascertain the yearly weather forecast to know the length of planting period and amount of rain to avoid drought and disaster.
Some of the participants, including Mrs. Ngozi Okpalaeke, a Rice and Cassava farmer from Agbudu, Orumba South Local Government Area, Mr. Emmanuel Okonkwo, Cassava farmer from Ogbaru and Mrs. Olivia Adiole, also a Cassava farmer from Ihiala Local Government Area, described the training as an eye opener.
The training featured a question-and-answer session.
Comments are closed for this post.