Agro-climatic risks and agricultural production in the municipality of zogbodomey in southern benin

Abstract

Nowadays, agro-climatic risks constitute a serious threat to agricultural production, especially in countries like Benin where agriculture remains essentially rainfed. This article aims mainly to analyze the effects of agro-climatic risks on agricultural production in the Municipality of Zogbodomey in southern Benin.

In this research, daily rainfall data from 1941 to 2016 obtained from the National Directorate of Meteorology (Météo-Benin), demographic and socio-economic data from the General Population and Housing Censuses (RGPH) of 2002 and agricultural statistics obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MAEP) over the period 1995-2018 were collected. Thus, based on daily rainfall data from the Bohicon station, agro-climatic risks of late starts, early ends, insufficient rains, pockets of drought and floods have been determined. Then, the analysis of late starts, early ends, wet sequences and dry sequences was made. Instat+ and SPP software were used for this work. Farmers' knowledge on the issue of vulnerability was analyzed on the basis of surveys conducted among 173 farmers.

The results of this analysis show an alternation of surplus years and deficit years from 1941-2016. The impacts of these agro-climatic risks on the environment are reflected in water shortage, loss of crops, lower yields and agricultural income, yellowing of plants and the presence of weeds and parasites in the Commune of Zogbodomey