Influence of Climate on Sugarcane Yield in Côte d’Ivoire: Case of the Ferkessédougou Region

Abstract

This study aims to understand the current climatic trends and explain the possible losses of agricultural yields. To achieve this objective, this work characterized the evolution of extreme temperature indices in the sugar complexes of Ferké 1 and Ferké 2, two stations located in the northern part of Côte d'Ivoire. The onset and cessation dates of the rainy season and the length of the rainy season were investigated. The agricultural and climatic data were obtained from each sugar complex. The period of study ranges from 2002 to 2019 in Ferké 1 and Ferké 2. The results show significant upward trends in extreme temperature indices. The analysis of sugarcane yield associated with the different climatic parameters shows no significant results in general. However, on the Ferkessédougou sugar complexes, the results highlight that maximum and minimum temperatures could be the variables that influence most yield production. The maximum temperature with coefficients of 1.60 and 0.77 at Ferké 1 and Ferké 2 respectively seems to contribute to an increase in yield while the minimum temperature with coefficients of −0.98 and −0.22 at Ferké 1 and Ferké 2 respectively could lead to a loss in yield. The results obtained with the Single Linear Regression (SLR) and the Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) models also highlight the strong influence of minimum and maximum temperatures.