Abstract

Agricultural production in Nigeria like other developing countries is highly vulnerable to climate variability. This study used regression and correlation analyses to examine the impacts of temperature, relative humidity, rainfall and number of rainy days on food production in the Patigi Local Government Area (LGA) of Kwara State of Nigeria. The results revealed that maize production correlated highly with rainfall amount (0.73). The other variables namely, relative humidity, number of rainy days, maximum and minimum temperature correlated with the crops but very weak. This means climatic variables examined have impact to a certain limit on the selected crop yield in the study area. The regression analysis revealed that 76, 79, 43, 82, 50 and 35% of the variance in rice, millet, sorghum, groundnut, maize and sweet potato can, respectively be explained by the climatic variables examined. The implication of the findings for sustainable agricultural development is discussed in the concluding part.

Key words: Climate change, crop, agriculture, yield, agricultural zones.