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Ethiopia: Agency Predicts Less 'Belg' Rain, Calls for Precautions
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The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)
28 February 2008
Posted to the web 28 February 2008
Biruk Girma
Addis Ababa
There will be less amount of rain fall both in terms of intensity and distribution in the upcoming 'Belg' season, the National Metrology Agency predicted on Wednesday, calling for necessary precautions to be made to mitigate negative consequences associated with water shortage.
The Belg season, under normal circumstance, is a primary source of rainfall to significant parts of the country, an agrarian economy heavily dependent on rainfall agriculture.
Eastern Tigray, Eastern Amhara, Afar, Middle Ethiopia, Eastern South Oromia, North SNNPR and most of the Somali regions get their fair share of rainfall during the season.
The agency warned regions which rely on Belg season's rain for their agriculture need to do all the necessary as they might not get as much as desired, during the upcoming 'Belg' season.
Because this year's Belg season would be characterized by irregular rainfall, which may harm the country's agriculture, it said.
Speaking at a press conference at the agency's Addis Ababa Head Quarters, Hailu Woudineh, Head of Legal, International and Public Relations with the agency urged farmers who use the season as their primary source of rainfall for livelihoods to take the necessary precautions before it was too late.
He said failing to do so may result in allowing the situation to become a potential cause for crisis or worsen consequences from rain fall shortages.
Hailu said, however, these regions can minimize the ugly faces of a dry season by storing water harvesting, and perform other off-agriculture tasks for the same goal.
He said farmers need to also take maximum care in the selection of seeds to see that seeds which can resist water shortages during dry seasons are chosen during the period under discussion.
More over, the agency called for effective utilization of available water resources and warned of harmful consequences of water mismanagement.
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The 'Belg' season, one of the three seasons, runs from mid February to mid May, according to Ethiopian agricultural calendar.
It is a secondary rainfall season for Eastern parts of the country. Some parts of the country in the regions of South - West and West get rain at the last months of the season.
The agency said it would keep the media and the public up breast on latest developments as regards to weather condition in the country.
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