Effects of Changes in Temperature, Rainfall and Relative Humidity on Banana Production in Ondo State, Nigeria

The effects of climate change on agriculture may have strong impacts on the world’s food economy and are likely to threaten both the welfare of the world’s population and the economic development of the global society. Hence, the impacts of changes in important climate variables like temperature, rainfall and relative humidity on the production of a major food commodity called banana is investigated using the data obtained within 1998-2012 from Ondo State, Nigeria. The results suggest that excessive rainfall and extremely high temperature can reduce banana productivity while the production is also small when both rainfall and temperature are very low with poor humidity. On the average, the findings show that a mean temperature of about 26 °C and average rainfall of around 1891mm with relative humidity of approximately 77% will lead to good annual banana production above 61,000 tons in Ondo State. Since these climate variables will fluctuate under a future climate change condition, the coping strategies recommended for farmers in the area and in similar places might include planting of drought- and disease resistant banana types, monitoring of weather conditions, use of irrigation and chemicals. Improved storage facilities are also important while transportation of banana should be done under controlled conditions to avoid spoiling the quality.