ASSESSING RAINFALL VARIABILITY IMPACTS USING AGRICULTURAL RAINFALL INDEX (ARI) ON CASSAVA GROWTH IN ILORIN AREA OF KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The scientific evidence on rainfall variability and its very important impact on crop growth are now stronger than ever. It is even more so on tubers (cassava) that serve as staple food in most parts of the world. Hence, the objectives of this study are to assess rainfall variability impacts using agricultural rainfall index (ARI) on cassava growth. Major areas where cassava is highly produced in parts of Ilorin were selected and rainfall data for the period of (2009 and 2010) and the potential evapotranspiration were estimated for the analysis of agricultural rainfall index (ARI). Arc-View GIS were also used to show mean monthly (ARI) deviation for some selected months in the study area. The result of the analysis show that agricultural rainfall index (ARI) varies from place to place and from month to month. The findings also reveals that effective rain fed agriculture can easily be carry out for both short variety and other types of crops most especially cassava between April & October whose ARI were greater than 100%, thereby improve the existing cassava industry in the country.