FARMERS ENJOY CURRENT FORM OF RAINFALL PATTERN

By early January, 2023 most fields of different crops were giving hope and that most farmers including those producing tobacco are all smiles as some from the central and southern areas have started reaping the bottom leaf.

Tama Farmers Trust President, a farmer from Nkhotakota is one of the farmers who have started reaping.

“I started reaping the bottoms on 9^th January and I am sure those who dry-planted are much ahead of us. If the weather conditions remain as favourable as it is now, I can foresee a better volume for the country as compared to the previous season,” said Mr. Abiel Masache Kalimba Banda from his base.

Tama Farmers Trust President, Mr. Kalima Banda has since told Farm Radio Trust that tobacco farmers are not worried with high cost of production for this season as he said that it is very likely that it will the great factor for setting up minimum prices for this season.

“We are not bothered with the high costs of inputs to tobacco because we know how the minimum price is arrived at. It is our expectation that we will not incur further costs than those that will have already been taken into consideration. Our weather pattern is still favourable to date so are very hopeful that we will make profits this year,” he said.

According to the department of climate change and meteorological services (DCCMS) in Malawi rains start in October and end in march. True to that, this cropping season experienced the first rains in October and since then there have been no serious concerns of dry spells.

Yobu Kachiwanda

The department’s spokesperson Yobu Kachiwanda says that closure of rainfall season is expected end March over southern and central areas and extends to April in Northern Malawi.

“October marks the beginning of the official monitoring of rainfall season in the country. But the main rains are usually experienced from November starting from the south and progressively spreading to central and northern areas,” he said.

He further said, “Global climate models are projecting La Nina conditions during the better part of 2022/2023 rainfall season. La Nina phenomenon is unusual cooling of waters over the Eastern Central Equatorial Pacific Ocean and is known to enhance rains over Southern Africa which may include southern Malawi while suppressing rains over Eastern Africa which may include northern part of Malawi. In comparison, the past rainfall seasons that experienced La Nina conditions similar to current La Nina projections are 1995/96,2000/01,2011/12, 2017/18 and 2020/21,” he said.

He said that Climate analyses on these analog years show that the country had normal onset with isolated delayed onset over the south, normal cessation of rains, and generally normal total rainfall amounts.

The main rain bearing systems that influence rainfall over Malawi include the Inter-tropical convergence zone, Congo air mass, easterly waves and tropical cyclones. Key driving factors of these rain bearing systems include mean sea level pressure, upper-level winds and sea surface temperatures over the tropical Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans.

End.