Abstract
Study was carried out to assess the influence of some selected meteorological conditions on the growth of pearl millet in three local government areas of Jigawa State. The experiments were conducted over 2016 and 2017 planting seasons at the experimental farm of Federal University, Dutste 11° 42’ N, 9° 34’ E [FUD], Bilyaminu Usman Polytechnic, Hadejia 12° 48’ N, 10° 01’ E (BUPH) and College of Education, Gumel 12° 62’ 9° 38’ E (COEG]) Jigawa State The Experiment was laid on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and replicated thrice, in each of the 3 locations, the total of 25*18m experimental area were splits into plots size of 5m2 with 1mtr distance between and within replicate to the study the influence of some selected meteorological conditions viz; rainfall, maximum and minimum air temperatures, relative air humidity and sunshine duration on the yield of pearl millet. Four (4) Pearl millet varieties viz; SOSAT C-88 (LCIC – MV1) and LCICMV4 Jirani (improved varieties), Zango (V3) and Matsangari (local varieties) obtained from Jigawa State Agricultural and Rural Development Agency (JARDA) and from the local farmers in the study area. Daily weather data on rainfall, maximum and minimum air temperature, relative air humidity as well as sunshine duration were obtained from the meteorological stations of the said locations. Data collected were subjected to multiple regression analysis using 5% significant level. The results revealed that meteorological condition rainfall, number of tillers, relative humidity, spike length and sunshine duration contributed 40%, 45% and 47% to the yield per hectare at Dutse. At Gumel it was revealed that maximum airtemperature contributes about 51% to the number of tillers, relative air humidity 58% to yield per plot and the sunshine duration contributes about 68% to the yield per hectare. However, the results obtained at Hadejiya shows that most of the contribution came from relative air humidity 51% and maximum air temperature 41 and 46% respectively.
Keywords: Agriculture in Nigeria, Meteorological Conditions, Growth, Pearl Millet