31Oct 2015

Predicting the amount of biomass produced grassland depending on the rainfall recorded in the Sahelian area of North – Senegal in West Africa

  • Higher Institute of Agricultural and Rural Education - University of Thies BP 967 A - Thies Senegal.
  • Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research, PO Box 3120, Dakar, Senegal.
  • University of Thies BP 967 A - Thies Senegal.
  • Faculty of Science and Technology, Plant Biology Departement, at Cheikh Anta Diop University - BP 5005 Dakar - Fann, Senegal.
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Predicting the amount of biomass produced grassland depending on the rainfall recorded in the Sahelian area of North – Senegal in West Africa This study is the logical continuation of the first article, which has established strong correlations between the amount of rainfall and herbaceous biomass produced in the Sahel region, for different winters followed. It took place in Unit Pastoral Malandou, located in the north of Senegal, located in the administrative region of Matam between latitudes 15 ° and 16 ° 30 North and longitudes 13 ° 30 and 16 ° West, thus occupying part of the pastoral zone of Senegal. The work relates to the period 1994 - 2010, on the basis of (i) collection of rainfall data, (ii) direct measurements of the herbaceous production and (iii) interviews and surveys of farmers. All data and information stored, were subject to a treatment that has shown that the variability of production of course is closely linked to that of rainfall, which the experimental verification of these links have corroborated, Now, this is, to rely on the amount of rainfall each year, based on the production of biomass measured in the surveys of selected sites on the courses, to develop a simple estimation tool grassland productivity of the study area. Satisfactory correlations obtained on three ground control sites installed in the Pastoral Unity(r ? 0.90 to 0.93), helped develop a comprehensive prediction equation of type « Y = axn », summarizing the results achieved. This equation yielded reliable estimates of quantities produced on a grassy pasture lands within the area of study but can be extrapolated to other areas that are similar to it in the Senegalese Sahel.


[Cheikh NDIAYE; Saliou NGOM; El Hadji TRAORE; Samba Arona NDIAYE; Léonard Elie AKPO (2015); Predicting the amount of biomass produced grassland depending on the rainfall recorded in the Sahelian area of North – Senegal in West Africa Int. J. of Adv. Res. 3 (Oct). 382-396] (ISSN 2320-5407). www.journalijar.com


Cheikh NDIAYE