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Comparative analysis of the distribution of rainy days in different ecological zones in Nigeria agriculture
Abstract
Agriculture in Nigeria is rain fed therefore, the availability of water for crop production and other agricultural activities' needs become very crucial.
The seasonal fluctuation in rainfall across the different ecological regions is often regarded as a critical climatic variable especially under peasant agriculture where capital needed to install irrigation facilities is rather lacking. Given the difficulties in the supply of water for agriculture due to the characteristics of rainfall (seasonality, variability, intensity) a study of the differences of rainy days distribution in different ecological zones in Nigeria becomes imperative.
The study seeks to determine and quantify differences in the number of rainy days available for crop production in the different (18) locations in (seven) different ecological zones in Nigeria with a view to providing information for farmers and other stakeholders in agriculture. To this end secondary data of a 25 years period covering the whole country was collected from relevant government agencies. Analytical tools included Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Least Significance Differences (LSD).
From the result, it was observed that the rainy days in the Southern Zone shows relatively less variabilities than those in the Central (middle belt) and the Northern zones. Likewise the distribution I the Central (middle belt) shows less variabilities than those of the Northern zone. Situation of inadequacies of each water supply in the Northern ecological zones and excessive supply in the Southern zones could be controlled through development policies of land irrigation in the former and flood control measures in the latter.
[JEXT Vol.2(1) 2001: 31-48]
The seasonal fluctuation in rainfall across the different ecological regions is often regarded as a critical climatic variable especially under peasant agriculture where capital needed to install irrigation facilities is rather lacking. Given the difficulties in the supply of water for agriculture due to the characteristics of rainfall (seasonality, variability, intensity) a study of the differences of rainy days distribution in different ecological zones in Nigeria becomes imperative.
The study seeks to determine and quantify differences in the number of rainy days available for crop production in the different (18) locations in (seven) different ecological zones in Nigeria with a view to providing information for farmers and other stakeholders in agriculture. To this end secondary data of a 25 years period covering the whole country was collected from relevant government agencies. Analytical tools included Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Least Significance Differences (LSD).
From the result, it was observed that the rainy days in the Southern Zone shows relatively less variabilities than those in the Central (middle belt) and the Northern zones. Likewise the distribution I the Central (middle belt) shows less variabilities than those of the Northern zone. Situation of inadequacies of each water supply in the Northern ecological zones and excessive supply in the Southern zones could be controlled through development policies of land irrigation in the former and flood control measures in the latter.
[JEXT Vol.2(1) 2001: 31-48]
