Audu Ogbeh, the minister of agriculture and rural development, advises farmers to use water that recedes from flood to replant rice to avoid shortage of the crop

– Ogbeh says the government is planning to distribute rice seeds which are flood tolerant to farmers

– NEMA warn that 12 Nigerian states will experience flooding

Nigeria may experience shortage of rice in 2019 if appropriate measures are not taken to replant after the recent flood mayhem in some states, Audu Ogbeh, the minister of agriculture and rural development has warned.

Ogbeh gave the warning on Thursday, October 4, when speaking at the at the 2018 seed fair and farmers’ field day organised by National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) in Sheda, Abuja, The Tribune reports.

The minister advised farmers to use water that recedes from the flood to replant rice to avoid shortage of the crop next year.

“We have to find a way to reach out to farmers who have lost their crops because in places like Jigawa, Kebbi, Anambra and Kogi many farmers lost everything they planted,” Ogbeh said.

“New varieties of rice are been produced at the National Agricultural Seed Council, the Faro 66 and 67 which are flood tolerant, we hope to get them into the field in large quantity for farmers to plant in the near future.

“We are also hoping that as soon as the rain recedes we encourage farmers to replant so that the residual moisture in the soil plus irrigation can give up another crop maybe by the end of December or early January otherwise we may be in serious trouble for millet, rice, maize and sorghum.

Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the National Hydrological Services Agencies (NHISA) have warned that 12 states across Nigeria would soon experience flooding due to torrential rain falls.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two agencies gave the warning on Friday, September 7, during an emergency stakeholders’ meeting held with relevant stakeholders in Abuja.