Farmers and other large-scale farming companies were advised to plan ahead as unusual weather was predicted for the May-June period, according to the Department of Public Information (DPI).
This was disclosed yesterday during the 14th National Climate Outlook Forum (NCOF) by Climatologist of the Hydrometeorological Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Komal Dhiram.
The forum was hosted at Herdmanston Lodge.
According to Dhiram, the May-June season will be much wetter than usual, but will quickly change to the opposite.
“This wet season is slightly different from those that we forecasted over the recent years. So, the first part of the season is likely to be wetter than usual or above average rainfall, but towards the end, we are going to have a drastic change into a dry period. This dry period will eventually lead to a drought,” he pointed out.
He explained that the seasonal outlook aims to provide information on the predicted forecast which will help people, particularly farmers to improve their decision-making.
Dhiram encouraged persons to find innovative ways to cultivate and care for their crops.
“So, it will mean that farmers or those large-scale water users will have to harvest this water properly because going into July and August…you will have dryness.
“Cash crop farmers, you may want to focus on what is happening in the ground, keep the focus on the daily weather forecast…so you make plans on the shorter crops”, he said, according to DPI.
He also urged that alternative measures such as collecting water from trenches and conservancies as well as cultivating drought-tolerant crops be considered.
