Impact of Temperature and Rainfall Fluctuations on the Growth Stages of Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) in the Savannah Region: An Agro-Meterological Perspective.

Abstract

Agricultural activities most especially crop production is climate determined in all ecological zones of Nigeria. Wheat Crop production in the savannah ecological zone of Nigeria faces significant challenges due to climate variability particularly temperature and rainfall fluctuations. Crop productivity is strongly influenced by these climatic factors, as they affect all stages of crop growth and development and hence yield. This study investigates the impact of temperature and rainfall variability on the growth stages of wheat (Triticum aestivum L) in the savannah region of Nigeria. Ten years climatic data from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency and wheat yield data from the Lake Chad Research Institute were analyzed. Pearson Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression analysis were employed to assess the relationship between wheat yield and Selected climate variables. Results reveals that maximum temperature (r=9.8) was positively correlated with wheat yield though not statistically significant while minimum temperature (r=-25.1) and rainfall (r=45.7) exhibited negative correlations, with rainfall being statistically significant at p‹ 005. The coefficient of determination indicated that 78.2% of the variation in wheat yield was explained by these Climatic variables. The study concludes that fluctuations in temperature and rainfall significantly impact wheat growth, especially during critical stages such as germination and flowering. To mitigate these effects, the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices, is recommended