SHRINKING RAIN-DAYS AND THE IMPERATIVES FOR CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE IN THE SUDANO-SAHELIAN REGION OF NIGERIA

Authors: Atedhor G.O

DOI Info: N/A

ABSTRACT

Rainfall distribution has far-reaching consequences on ecosystems and socio-economic activities, of which agriculture is most significant. This paper therefore, examined the inter-annual trends of rain-days in the Sudano-Sahelian region of Nigeria using monthly data of eight synoptic weather stations (Sokoto, Gusau, Katsina, Kano, Potiskum, Nguru, Maiduguri and Yola) for 64 years (1951-2014). The inter-annual trends of rain-days of the synoptic weather stations were investigated using simple linear regression while significance of the trends was analysed using correlation. The change in rain-days between the periods 1951-1982 and 1983-2014 was evaluated using pair-wise t-test. Annual rain-day declined in Sokoto, Gusau, Katsina, Kano, Nguru, Potiskum and Maiduguri at the rates of -0.1692, -0.2114, -0.1275, 0.0839, -0.1748 and -0.2357 respectively while Yola witnessed increase and at the rate of 0.0209. The decrease in rain-days were significant in Sokoto, Nguru and Maiduguri with correlation coefficients of -0.348, -0.342, -0.367 (P<0.01) respectively and in Gusau at -0.279 (P<0.05). The synoptic weather stations, except Yola, showed recovery tendencies. Change in annual rain-days was significant in Sokoto, Gusau, Katsina, Potiskum, Nguru and Maiduguri with t-statistics of 2.282, 2.638, 2.261, 1.730, 2.793 and 2.536 (P<0.05) respectively. The linear glides in rain-days in the region suggest the imperatives for climate-smart agricultural practices such as irrigation, mulching and cultivation of drought-tolerant varieties.

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