Author(s) :

*Oloruntade, A. J., 2Olaniyan, I. O. and 3Adeyeye, J. A..

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

Drought is a natural hazard with far-reaching impacts on agriculture, hydrology and water resources. This study employed the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) to analyze meteorological drought patterns in Ado-Ekiti over three temporal scales: 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month, using monthly rainfall data covering the period 1980 to 2022. Plot of annual rainfall series showed high rainfall variability over AdoEkiti during the period of study, especially between 1985 and 2010, but with an increasing trend from the period till 2022. Moreover, the results of drought analysis also revealed that it has be more of wet years in Ado-Ekiti irrespective of the different time scales used, with most months mildly wet, followed by moderately wet, severely wet and extremely wet conditions, respectively. However, extreme and severe drought conditions were observed especially at shorter timescales, especially during decade 1980s. Consequently, it was concluded that occurrence of drought has been very rare in Ado-Ekiti which may translate to increasing agricultural productivity if effectively harnessed. However, in view of the extreme drought conditions observed during few months, it is recommended that farmers should always prepare for supplementary irrigation, especially during off-season farming activities, while construction of water storage and flood control facilities should be prioritized by governments at all levels in the town.

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