Climatic Factors(weather elements).
- Rainfall,
- Temperature,
- Wind,
- Relative humidity
- Light.
Weather - Atmospheric conditions of a place at a given time period.
Climate - weather conditions of a place observed and recorded for a period of 30-40 years.
Rainfall
Supplies Water:
- Which is necessary for the life process in plants and animals.
- Which makes the plant turgid hence provides support.
- Acts as a solvent for plant nutrients.
- Cools the plant during transpiration.
- Which is used as a raw material in photosynthesis.
When plants lack enough water they respond in different ways as follows:
- By closing the stomata to restrict water loss.
- Hastens maturity.
- Some will roll their leaves.
Other plants have developed permanent adaptation to water stress such as:
- Growing needle like leaves.
- Develop fleshy leaves for water storage.
- Develop long roots.
- Wilting and death in extreme conditions.
Important Aspects of Rainfall:
Rainfall reliability;
- This is the dependency on the timing of the onset of the rains.
Amount of rainfall;
- Quantity of rain that falls in a given area within a given year.
Rainfall distribution ;
- The number of wet months in a year.
Rainfall intensity;
- Amount of rainfall that falls in an area within a period of 1 hour.
Temperature
- This is the degree of hotness or coldness of a place measured in degrees Celsius.
- Cardinal range of temperature ¬ is the temperature required by plant to grow and thrive well.
- Optimum range of temperatures - the best temperature for the best performance of plants.
Effects of Temperatures on Crop Production:
Low temperatures:
- Slow the growth rate of crops due to slowed photosynthesis and respiration.
- High incidences of disease infection.
- Improves quality of crops such as tea and pyrethrum.
High Temperatures
Increase evaporation rate leading to
- Wilting.
- Hastens the maturity of crops.
- Increase disease and pest infection.
- Improves quality of crops such as pineapples, oranges and pawpaws.
Wind
Wind is moving air.
Good effects of wind include:
- Seed dispersal
- Cooling of land
- Pollination in crops
- Brings rain bearing clouds
Negative effects of wind:
- Increases the rate of evaporation of water.
- Causes lodging of cereals and distorts perennial crops.
- Increases evapo-transpiration.
- Spreads diseases and pests.
- Destroys farm structures.
Relative Humidity
- The amount of water vapour in the air
- Affects the rate of evapo-transpiration.
- Forms dew which supplies soil with moisture under dry conditions.
- High humidity induce rooting in cuttings.
- Increases disease multiplication and spread.
Light
- Provide radiant energy harnessed by green plant for photosynthesis.
Important aspects of light:
Light intensity ;
- The strength with which light is harnessed by chlorophyll for photosynthesis.
Light duration;
- The period during which light is available to plants per day.
- Plant response to light duration is known as photoperiodism.
- Short-day plants - require less than 12 hours of daylight to flower and seed.
- Long-day plants - require more than 12 hours of daylight to flower and seed.
- Day-neutral plants require 12 hours of daylight to flower and seed.
Light wavelength;
- This is the distance between two - successive crests of a wavelength.
- It dictates the difference between natural and artificial light.
- Chlorophyll absorbs certain wavelengths of light.
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