Determination of Onset of the Farming Season of Maize in Uyo Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State

The study was conducted to determine the Onset of Farming Season in Uyo Local Government Area. The study analyzed the annual rainfall trend in Uyo from 2004 - 2023, investigated the trend in temperature within the study period, determined the onset of rain in the study area as well as the cessation date of rain in the study area. Daily rainfall and monthly temperature data were collected from the University of Uyo weather station from 2004 – 2023 for the study. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that mean annual minimum rainfall was 3095.3 mm obtained in 2023 while annual maximum rainfall amount was 4594.82 mm obtained in 2022. The mean annual rainfall in the area within the study period was 3868.91 ± 428.96 mm. The variability of annual and mean rainfall within this study period was 11.09 %. The annual trend of rainfall showed an increasing trend at an annual rate of 41.53 with R2 of 32.81 % while the annual trend of temperature showed a decreasing trend at an annual rate of 0.045 and R2 of 19.19 %. The results also showed that rainfall commences in Uyo between 62 and 112 Julian days with a mean of 77.6 ± 12.9 Julian days. The coefficient of variability was 16.6 % which showed that yearly onset period differs moderately in Uyo. Similarly, rainfall ceases in the area between 264 and 355 Julian days with mean of 309.6 ± 34.2 Julian days for the individual years between 2004 and 2023. The coefficient of variability was 11.0 % which shows that yearly retreat periods in Uyo differ slightly. The minimum length of growing season in Uyo was between 173 and 293 Julian days with a mean of 234.5 ± 35.1 Julian days. This implies that the majority of the period had long rain which suggests that farmers can successfully grow a second short maize crop. It was recommended among others that the farming calendar for maize should be reviewed to identify new planting dates for farmers in every new season.