The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Lagos State Chapter, has expressed optimism of a bumper harvest in 2025 with the first rainfall of the year.
The Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Lagos State, Mr Femi Oke, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
The AFAN chair expressed excitement at the first rain, saying that it spells a good year for farmers and food security.
“We are glad to witness the first rain of the year. Usually the first rains fall between January 15 and 20 annually.
“We have been expecting the rains and if rain falls like this we know that the year is going to be a good year and we are going to witness a bumper harvest.
“And with this rain, we hope that this year’s harvest will be very fine and the farmers will really enjoy the climate conditions of this year,” the chairman said.
Oke urged local farmers to begin preparation of the land for crop cultivation when the rains start in earnest.
“So, we advise farmers to begin preparing for the planting season, in fact some of us have actually began earlier. We have started tilling and ploughing the lands in preparation for the rains.
“For our farmers that are into arable crops and farming in a big land spaces like thick forest, we normally advise them to start land preparation around November, December because land preparation takes time.
“With preparation of the farm lands for cultivation as the first rain has softened the ground, we will start expecting the more consistent rains from April to begin cultivation.
“It is a good sign that the rain came in the third week of January, it is indeed a good start-up for local farmers,” Oke said. (NAN)
