An Assessment of the Survivability of Livestock and other Available Agricultural Produce in Oguta Eco-system in Imo State of Nigeria

Abstract:

From Africa to America and from Europe to Asia, the climate is ever changing. This change poses serious threat to agriculture and livestock production as well as on the longevity and survivability of man on planet earth. The most obvious of this change is evident in forms of high rainfall and temperature in various regions of the world. Thus, as the regions close to the poles get colder, the regions close to the equator get hotter. This has also resulted to the melting of ice and subsequent flooding in some areas as well as leading to drought and desertification in other regions. This research therefore examined the effect of rainfall and temperature on agriculture and livestock production. To achieve this, rainfall and temperature data from 1950 – 2012 were analyzed in order to assess the extent of change in the study area. Selected agricultural produce and livestock were also sampled to determine the effect of rainfall and temperature on production. The SPSS tool was used to correlate the rainfall and temperature data against the selected agriculture and livestock production in the study area. The result proves a strong positive correlation between the climatic data and agriculture and livestock production. The study recommends that tree planting or green economy should be practice in the study area to aid livestock production. Cover cropping/ crop rotation, controlled drainage, conservation tillage etc. are some of the recommended measures for improved agricultural produce.