By  Fatima Muraina

Agriculture and climatic experts have alerted the nation of food shortage and starvation next year unless government facilitates irrigation and drought resistant crops to stem the tide.
The warning was given by the experts in separate interviews with The Hope.
The experts; Prof. James Okunola from the Department of Agriculture Extension, Federal University of Agriculture, (FUTA) and Prof. Ahmed Balogun of the department of Climatology and Climate Science, FUTA; a Senior Lecturer of Agronomy Department, Federal College of Agriculture, Akure (FECA), Dr. Emmanuel Moyinjesu and the Director of Technical and Research Farm, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Dr. Jibayo Oyebade .
They posited that in view of acute shortage of rainfall, irrigation and drought resistant crops will enhance crop production, promote food security and lessen starvation and rising costs of foods in the country, warning that failure may result to severe hunger as there may not be rainfall till March 2021.
According to Prof. James Okunola, aside the lack of rainfall, the current unfavourable temperature and weather for agricultural practices were other factors that would affect food crops production, urging government and farmers to husband dams and swampy areas for irrigation system.
According to the agric scholar, if government could make available the dams like the one at Igbara Oke to encourage irrigation, it would go a long way to help the people fight hunger.
Commenting on the current climatic condition, Prof. Ahmed Balogun said weather forecast comes with probability, which is why the end users ought to be educated about it.
He noted that the prediction for longer drought was under probability; it may not affect everywhere but would definitely happen in some places, saying that irrigation was the best solution for food sustainability, either large or small scale.
He also advised farmers to obtain loans for farming, especially in the dry season, saying there was no magical way out of the current situation.
In his comment, Dr Emmanuel Moyinjesu said farmers should not expect any meaningful rainfall as the dry season has set in, adding that March 21 marks the beginning of the raining season as the earth is rotating back to the North and October 21 of every year marks the beginning of the dry season.
He said lack of rainfall has disappointed the people this year and had led to food scarcity, stressing that government needed to invest huge amount of money on irrigation system and use wetland areas for FADAMA programmes to grow dry season crops.
“We are losing these lands and government is not looking at that direction. So you discover that to meet all these problems posed by drought, we need drought resistant crops, and animal to withstand the situation, “he suggested.
While calling on governments to re-strategise with the Benin Owena River Basin Authority, he charged politicians to also pull up resources in their empowerment programmes using irrigation project to empower farmers.
The agric expert also advised farmers’ groups to have irrigation projects in their farms to enhance crop production, noting that the country’s population is disproportionate to her food production.
Speaking on Ondo state, Dr. Jibayo Oyebade, who earlier expected an extension of rainfall till December, said that there may not be further downpour considering what he described as severe weather condition being experienced in the state
“The early morning dew is an indication of the emergence of the dry season take-off, although there may be sporadic rainfall in the Southern Senatorial districts between now and December,” he said.
Oyebade said starvation may linger for a long time as there was no rain to water food crops, calling for irrigation system as the only way out.
“Most governments are not serious about agriculture. If it can have about 1,000 irrigation plants, we would be eating maize almost four times a year”.
“There is irrigation in the north and there is need for government to do same in the southwest because no irrigation, no food security,” he warned.