By Olamide Francis
Agrometerologist in the Department of Water Resources Management and Agrometeorology of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Dr. Akeem Makinde has described the harmattan season as a blessing to the continent of Africa. He calls on everyone, especially farmers to enjoy it.
The scholar who spoke with NatureNews described the science of harmattan, explaining why it seems to have harsh effect on natural resources.
He said, “Harmattan is an environmental situation that occurs mostly between November and March/April.
“Dry air mass from the Sahara Desert, indicative of low moisture content, blows towards the marine.
“The air mass has little quantity of water, causing it to trap all available water in its traveling path.
“What determines the climate of an environment is the predominant air mass around the environment.
“The water table along the path of travel of the dry air mass will be depleted because of the increase in temperature of the dry air mass.”
Describing the impact of harmattan on agriculture, he said farmers in the arid region would have to rely on supplementary irrigation because the water table and moisture content in plants are usually depleted. However, he described the advantages of the harmattan especially to farmers.
In his words, “One of the advantages of harmattan is that there is a little amount of weed growing in the environment because weeds have little or no water to compete with the plants. “Harmattan helps with weed management. It reduces the weeding cost of the farmer.
“Also, the increase in temperature during harmattan will increase photoperiods giving plants a longer period to photosynthesise for biomass accumulation.
“Harmattan mainly helps plants to maximize nutrients with little or no competition.”
Makinde described bush burning as the major disadvantage of the harmattan season, calling for stricter measures against the activity to stop the felling of economic trees in the forest.
“The disadvantage of harmattan is equally available.
“Most farmers are fond of bush burning. Bush burning affects mineralisation in the soil – that is the destruction of organic components that breaks down nutrients for plants on the soil. Bush burning kills these microorganisms and disallows plants from using the available nutrients on the soil.
“Bush burning must be discouraged. Apart from the mineralisation problem, some economic trees in the bush will be affected,” he stated.
He described the nexus between climate change and harmattan, saying, harmattan provides a self-regulated environment beneficial to plant growth am dater conservation.
“Farmers can spend less during harmattan if enough water has been harvested during the rainy season.
“It helps to preserve water resources. Farmers have no challenge during harmattan. Harmattan is a blessing to Africa. Harmattan serves as a controlled environment. Everything plants need to grow is supplied in exact and sufficient quantity.”
The FUNAAB lecturer described harmattan as friendly weather to farmers if utilized appropriately, saying it gives farmers an advantage over the rainfall season. He also called on environmental stakeholders to embark on programs that discourage bush burning and protect themselves from the adverse effects of the season.
“Stakeholders especially government should embark on bush burning enlightenment program. Once that is done, harmattan can be effectively maximized. Another thing is that the environment will become dusty. People must protect themselves from the weather. Wear cold-resistant clothes to avoid any harmattan related illness. The season is a good season. Let us enjoy it.”