Meteo advises farmers on crop planting

THE Ghana Meteorological Agency has advised farmers not to plant immediately after the onset of the rains, as they may experience crop failure.
It said the planting period for crops should start between four and six weeks after the onset of the rainy season when the dry spells, which are the periods between one rainfall and another, were expected to be relatively shorter.
This was contained in the agency’s seasonal forecast. It has predicted an average-to-above-average rainfall over the entire country during the main rainy seasons.
The release said average-to-above-average rainfall was expected in areas in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions and the northern half of the Volta Region during the main rainy season from July to September.
Also areas in the middle part of the Volta Region, the entire Brong Ahafo, Eastern, Ashanti, Western and Central regions, except the coastal strip, would experience average rainfall during the main season from April to June.
For the rest of the country, that is, the coastal strip of the Central Region, stretching through to the Greater Accra Region and the Volta Region, average amounts of rainfall are expected from April to June.
The coastal belt, which stretches from the Central Region to the Volta Region, is expected to experience average rainfall during the major season.
The start of the rainy season, which is expected between the first and second weeks of March, is expected to be characterised by long dry spells of about 10 days, especially during the first four to six weeks after the onset of the rains.
The forest zone, which includes parts of the Volta and Central regions, and the entire Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Eastern and Western regions will experience average rainfall during the major season, which is expected to start from the first to the second week of March.
The Northern Region of Ghana is expected to experience average rainfall during the rainy season, starting from the first week of April.
The forecast, however, added that within the first four weeks after the onset, there was the likelihood of the areas experiencing some periods of dry spells lasting between five and 10 days within the northern regions.
The Upper East and Upper West regions are expected to experience average-to-above-average rainfall during the major season, with the onset expected in the last week of April and a dry spell of between five and 10 days likely to occur during the first four weeks after the onset.
The Head of the Research Department of the agency, Mr Charles Kwaku Yorke, gave the summary of the average rainfall in the major season as: Coastal belt, 710mm between March and October; forest belt, 110mm from March to October; Northern belt, 980mm from April to October, and Upper East and Upper West, 960mm and 963mm, respectively, from April to October.