Rainfall Trends in Semi-Arid Cereal Regions of Algeria | ||
| Al-Qadisiyah Journal For Agriculture Sciences | ||
| Article 6, Volume 11, Issue 1, June 2021, Pages 36-44 PDF (506.06 K) | ||
| Document Type: Research Paper | ||
| DOI: 10.33794/qjas.2021.129187.1000 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Mawhoub Amirouche1; Dalila Smadhi* 2; Lakhdar Zella3; Hakim Bachir2 | ||
| 1Rural engineering department, Higher National Agronomic School, Algiers, Algeria | ||
| 2Bioclimatology and Agricultural Hydraulics Research Division, National Institute of Agronomic Research, Algiers, Algeria | ||
| 3Biotechnology department, Faculty of Life and Nature Sciences, University of Saad Dahlab Blida1, Blida, Algeria | ||
| Abstract | ||
| The study focuses on rainfall, number of rainy days and droughts, on an annual time step basis, over the period (1940-2019). Each parameter is analysed by the average behavior of 1,817 variables representative of 23 semi-arid wilayas. The approach helps to characterise the rainfall climate of cereal-growing regions, where production and yields per hectare are unstable for decades.The average rainfall, estimated at 423 mm, shows a cyclical evolution, reflected by a change in averages: 430, 405, 440 mm. These averages reproduce two relatively rainy cycles (1940-1970) and (2000-2019), separated by a dry cycle (1970-2000). The frequency of cyclical rains, however, shows that rains above 400 mm remain less dominant over 79 years. The averages of observations decrease progressively with the increase of the quantities of rains, that is to say, percentages that do not exceed 14, 13 and 9%. These characteristics underline interannual droughts, which fluctuate between 0.8 and -2.5, showing a progressively decreasing number of rainy days. The results obtained do not seem to explain all the variations in cereal production and yield. However, the correlation coefficients below 35% reflect the efficient use of rainfall during the crop growth cycle, which is subject to other production factors. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| region; Rainfall; rainy days; Drought; production | ||
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