Assessment of the relations between crop yield variability and the onset and intensity of the West African Monsoon

Timely information on the onset of rain is essential for effectively adapting to climate variability and increasing the resilience of rain-fed systems. However, defining optimal sowing dates based on the onset of rain has been challenging. We compared and analyzed the West African Monsoon onset acco...

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Autores principales: Joseph, Jacob Emanuel, Akinseye, Folorunso M., Worou, Nadine, Faye, Aliou, Konte, Oumar, Whitbread, Anthony M., Rötter, Reimund P.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/130624
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author Joseph, Jacob Emanuel
Akinseye, Folorunso M.
Worou, Nadine
Faye, Aliou
Konte, Oumar
Whitbread, Anthony M.
Rötter, Reimund P.
author_browse Akinseye, Folorunso M.
Faye, Aliou
Joseph, Jacob Emanuel
Konte, Oumar
Rötter, Reimund P.
Whitbread, Anthony M.
Worou, Nadine
author_facet Joseph, Jacob Emanuel
Akinseye, Folorunso M.
Worou, Nadine
Faye, Aliou
Konte, Oumar
Whitbread, Anthony M.
Rötter, Reimund P.
author_sort Joseph, Jacob Emanuel
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Timely information on the onset of rain is essential for effectively adapting to climate variability and increasing the resilience of rain-fed systems. However, defining optimal sowing dates based on the onset of rain has been challenging. We compared and analyzed the West African Monsoon onset according to Raman’s, modified Sivakumar’s, Yamada’s, and Liebmann’s definitions using station data from 13 locations in Senegal from 1981 to 2020. Subsequently, we systematically analyzed the effect of the differently estimated monsoon onsets(WAM-OS) on maize development. To this end, we applied the set of the generated WAM-OS as sowing dates in simulations of maize growth and yields, applying the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator(APSIM) at 13 locations representing different agroclimatic regions across Senegal. We examined the impact of the sowing dates under variable conditions of soil organic carbon(SOC) and plant available water capacity(PAWC). Our analysis showed statistically significant differences between the WAM-OS dates, rainfall characteristics computed for these, and maize yields simulated using different sowing dates according to the WAM-OS definitions. We found Liebmann’s onset dates were most suitable for both hydrological and agronomic applications since they were characterized by the lowest probabilities of prolonged dry spells after onset, the highest amount of rainfall in the mid-season, and the highest simulated maize yields compared to other onset definitions. Our results highlight the importance of sowing dates and their accurate prediction for improving crop productivity in the study area. We also found SOC and PAWC were important factors that improved maize yields. We recommend improved access to climate information services to help smallholder farmers get timely information that helps them in their sowing decisions and encourage agronomic interventions that improve the SOC level, soil pore volume to retain more water and other soil properties directly(e.g., tillage) and indirectly(suited cropping systems) that contribute to enhancing crop productivity.
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spelling CGSpace1306242025-10-26T12:51:40Z Assessment of the relations between crop yield variability and the onset and intensity of the West African Monsoon Joseph, Jacob Emanuel Akinseye, Folorunso M. Worou, Nadine Faye, Aliou Konte, Oumar Whitbread, Anthony M. Rötter, Reimund P. assessment crops monsoons food security resilience production systems forestry Timely information on the onset of rain is essential for effectively adapting to climate variability and increasing the resilience of rain-fed systems. However, defining optimal sowing dates based on the onset of rain has been challenging. We compared and analyzed the West African Monsoon onset according to Raman’s, modified Sivakumar’s, Yamada’s, and Liebmann’s definitions using station data from 13 locations in Senegal from 1981 to 2020. Subsequently, we systematically analyzed the effect of the differently estimated monsoon onsets(WAM-OS) on maize development. To this end, we applied the set of the generated WAM-OS as sowing dates in simulations of maize growth and yields, applying the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator(APSIM) at 13 locations representing different agroclimatic regions across Senegal. We examined the impact of the sowing dates under variable conditions of soil organic carbon(SOC) and plant available water capacity(PAWC). Our analysis showed statistically significant differences between the WAM-OS dates, rainfall characteristics computed for these, and maize yields simulated using different sowing dates according to the WAM-OS definitions. We found Liebmann’s onset dates were most suitable for both hydrological and agronomic applications since they were characterized by the lowest probabilities of prolonged dry spells after onset, the highest amount of rainfall in the mid-season, and the highest simulated maize yields compared to other onset definitions. Our results highlight the importance of sowing dates and their accurate prediction for improving crop productivity in the study area. We also found SOC and PAWC were important factors that improved maize yields. We recommend improved access to climate information services to help smallholder farmers get timely information that helps them in their sowing decisions and encourage agronomic interventions that improve the SOC level, soil pore volume to retain more water and other soil properties directly(e.g., tillage) and indirectly(suited cropping systems) that contribute to enhancing crop productivity. 2023-04 2023-06-05T13:04:26Z 2023-06-05T13:04:26Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/130624 en Limited Access Elsevier Joseph EJ, Akinseye F, Worou N, Faye A, Konte O, Whitbread AM, Rötter R. 2023. Assessment of the relations between crop yield variability and the onset and intensity of the West African Monsoon. Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA).
spellingShingle assessment
crops
monsoons
food security
resilience
production systems
forestry
Joseph, Jacob Emanuel
Akinseye, Folorunso M.
Worou, Nadine
Faye, Aliou
Konte, Oumar
Whitbread, Anthony M.
Rötter, Reimund P.
Assessment of the relations between crop yield variability and the onset and intensity of the West African Monsoon
title Assessment of the relations between crop yield variability and the onset and intensity of the West African Monsoon
title_full Assessment of the relations between crop yield variability and the onset and intensity of the West African Monsoon
title_fullStr Assessment of the relations between crop yield variability and the onset and intensity of the West African Monsoon
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of the relations between crop yield variability and the onset and intensity of the West African Monsoon
title_short Assessment of the relations between crop yield variability and the onset and intensity of the West African Monsoon
title_sort assessment of the relations between crop yield variability and the onset and intensity of the west african monsoon
topic assessment
crops
monsoons
food security
resilience
production systems
forestry
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/130624
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