Some farmers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Tuesday, criticised the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) for its inaccurate weather forecasts and delay in releasing the 2012 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP).

Speaking with our correspondent,  an Agricultural Scientist, Chief Moses Gilbert, blamed NIMET for not releasing its SRP in January when farmers would be able to follow up the prediction easily.

He complained that the forecast released by the agency was confusing, adding that it was creating more problems for farmers, “because we cannot see what they predicted happening.

“NIMET predicted in March that there would be normal rainfall across the country, meaning there would not be flooding but now in Lagos, Ibadan and some other parts of the country, we have experienced flooding.

“As you can see now, Abuja has not witnessed a proper rain fall since the beginning of the year; this could not allow us to go into farming because nobody knows what would happen next,’’ he said.

Mr Ahame Audu, a farmer at Gwagwalada area of the FCT, said since the beginning of the year, none of the predictions of the agency on weather had come to reality.

He also accused NIMET of not communicating with farmers in the rural areas by interpreting the seasonal rainfall predictions that was released by the agency once a year in local languages that the farmers could understand.

Mrs Patricia Emabino, another farmer at Nyanya in the FCT, said there was nothing to show that the government agency cared about farmers like other stakeholders who used the weather and climate information.

“ Most farmers across the country become victims of flooding and low harvest of farm crops because of wrong information or as a result of not having access to the weather information provided by the agency.

“Sometimes, even when the forecast is released, you will realise that it never comes true,’’ Emabino said.