The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Oyo State branch, has solicited assistance of the state government to provide irrigation facilities to farmers to enable all year round cultivation of food crops.
Chairman of the Association, Mr. Adewumi Abass, made the appeal while speaking in Ibadan on challenges facing farmers in the state.
Abass, who raised concerns at the sparse rainfall pattern in 2025, said though there was forecast for flooding in many states including Oyo, the rainfall had been irregular.
“Some parts of the state are experiencing rainfall while some are not.
“The way things are going now, it is like the so call wet season is almost out of the way.
“You know we have two planting seasons in Nigeria which are raining season and dry season.
“The raining season starts by March ending to around early April. You can see now that the rain did not fall as expected during that period and this is first week of May,” Abass said.
He said the dry season normally start by August, which was called August break, noting that the August break had now moved to between June and July, when farmers would start the dry season farming.
“We are in May now and look at what is happening in which some areas are experiencing rains while some are not.
“If government really wants to help us out of this system, what we need is irrigation farming.
“They should find means of assisting farmers; maybe by giving irrigation facilities to farmers on instalment payment.
“We are appealing to them to find means of providing irrigation facilities to farmers, so that we will be able to plant round the year,” he said.
Abass, who is also Acting Chairman of AFAN, South West Region, further called on governments to help address the security challeges facing farmers including farmers/herders clash.
The Acting Chairman, AFAN, South-West, also implored security agencies in the state to increase their patrols around farmlands in order to give farmers sense of security while on their farms.
Abass commended Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State for promising to pay half of the amount used by farmers in cultivating their farmland per acre.
He also commended the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) for providing farm inputs to farmers in the state.
By Suleiman Shehu