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.