Analysis of climatic factors affecting sugarcane germination in Numan, Adamawa State, Nigeria. – N. L. Binbol
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the relationship between climatic elements and the germination of sugarcane at Savannah Sugar Company, Numan. The empirical work adopted the phenological approach to crop-climate relationship. Correlation and regression techniques were used to determine the nature and extent of the relationship between climatic factors and germination/yield. The climatic variables used are total rainfall, relative humidity, mean maximum temperature, mean minimum temperature, evaporation, mean wind velocity and sunshine. The result shows that of the seven variables, total rainfall and mean minimum temperature were significant at 90% confidence level. Relative humidity and mean evaporation were significant at the 95 and 99% confidence level respectively. The four factors accounted for 86.4 % in the germination and yield variation of sugarcane in the study area. The implication of these findings were also discussed with regards to sugarcane cultivation in Numan, Adamawa state, Nigeria.
Keywords: Climate, germination, yield, sugarcane