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RA 00110.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

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900<br />

800<br />

700<br />

600<br />

Mean<br />

500<br />

400<br />

300<br />

200<br />

1904 1912 1920 1928 1936 1944 1952 1960 1962 1976<br />

Year<br />

Figure 2. Annual rainfall variability of Niamey<br />

Growing Season<br />

The variability in the annual and monthly rainfall<br />

opens to question the utility of the traditional practice<br />

of describing a crop-growing region using these<br />

figures. Average length of the growing season in the<br />

millet-growing regions of West Africa ranges from<br />

60 d on the edge of Sahara to 150 d in the south. Of<br />

course, in drought years such as 1984, the growing<br />

season could be much shorter and lead to crop failure.<br />

Long-term daily rainfall data could be analyzed<br />

to provide meaningful information on the environmental<br />

risks to cropping. For example, the dates of<br />

beginning and ending of the rainy season and the<br />

length of the growing season have been used to<br />

highlight the differences in cropping potential between<br />

Kaolack (Senegal), and Ouagadougou (Burkina<br />

Faso), two locations with approximately the same<br />

mean annual rainfall (Table 3). The growing season<br />

at Kaolack is shorter than that at Ouagadougou by<br />

Table 3. Average dates of beginning and ending of rains and length of growing season at Kaolack and Ouagadougou.<br />

Location<br />

(Rainfall)<br />

Beginning<br />

of rains<br />

Date s.d. 1<br />

Date<br />

Ending<br />

of rains<br />

s.d.<br />

Days<br />

Length of the<br />

growing season<br />

s.d.<br />

Kaolack (800 mm)<br />

23 Jun 14<br />

27 Sep 12<br />

97 18<br />

Ouagadougou (830 mm)<br />

31 May 16<br />

24 Sep 12<br />

117 21<br />

1. s.d. = standard deviation.<br />

23

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