A study of effective rainfall for crop production
Abstract
The agricultural potential of marginal rainfall areas
is very much dependent on the intensity, distribution and
duration of the rains, which in dry regions are very variable
between years, seasons and even within a season. In Eastern
Africa, maize has become the most popular staple food and
is grown very widely even in areas where rains are seldom
adequate for good yields. Guiding farm practices of small
scale farmers by use of analyses on the effectiveness of
rainfall should help to improve seasonal yields.
The analysis of effective rainfall assesses how
effectively past rainfall seasons would have satisfied the
crop water requirements. The patterns of crop water
adequacy indices calculated ,for past rainfall seasons
indicate that total seasonal effective rainfall can be
estimated early in the season and thus yield levels can also
be predicted.
Citation
Master of Science in MeteorologySponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
Department of Meteorology, University of Nairobi