Effects of Weather Patterns on the Growth of White Yam (Dioscoreae rotundata) in Ardo-Kola LGA, Taraba State

This research evaluated the effects of weather patterns on the growth of three selected white yam cultivars 'Yalzo', 'Jajetin' and 'Dan Anacha' in Ardo-kola LGA, Taraba State. The experiment was conducted during the 2016/2017 growing season along Sunkani - Bali highway opposite College of Agriculture Jalingo Taraba State. The experiment was carried out in Randomized Complete Block Designed (RCBD) using 3 replications. The meteorological data were collected from Taraba State University Jalingo, meteorological station throughout the growing season. Based on weather patterns during the cropping season, highest rainfall was recorded in the month of August with the total of 175mm and decreases toward October. There is inverse relationship with rainfall and Maximum temperature, Minimum temperature and sunshine hours, while Relative Humidity showed a direct relationship with rainfall. Correlation result showed that, Relative Humidity and soil temperature correlates positively with all the various developmental stages of yam at 0.01 and 0.05 probability levels respectively. Relative Humidity, rainfall and soil temperature correlates positively with all the growth parameters of the three selected cultivars of yam. Variation in growth of yam revealed that, there is a variation in plant height, number of leaves, number of branches at P=0.05, number of stem node at P=0.01. Knowledge of weather as it relate to yam growth such as onset, cessation and length of rainy season should be pass to local farmers as that will help the farmers in planning and management of their farm. Improve cultivars of yam should also be introduce to the local farmers in the study area