3rd World Congress on
Environmental Science & Climate Change

Dr. Igberi Christiana Ogonna

Department of Agriculture, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Abstract Title:

Complexity of Climate Change Variability and Pesticide Application on Rice Production in Nigeria

Biography:

Dr. Christiana Igberi, a seasoned Agricultural Economist and Dean of Agriculture at Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ebonyi State, specializes in sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation, and gender in agricultural policy. With over 20 years of experience and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, Dr. Christiana focuses on production economics, trade policy, and agricultural finance. A published researcher with 37 academic papers, she is part of the Weitz Center Friends' Network and promotes the Rehovot Approach to Integrated Development. Dr. Christiana collaborates globally, applying economic models to address the impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods.

Research Interests:

Abstract:

Complexity of climate change variability and pesticide application on rice production in Nigeria was investigated. Multi-stage technique was used to sample 419 rice farmers using structured questionnaire. Data for the study were collected from both primary and secondary sources and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, local average treatment effect (LATE), beta regression model, principle component analysis, (PCA) and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. Results showed that the rice farmers were in their productive age (56 years), more of males (85%), educated (mean=12.0), and experienced (18 years). Majority of the rice farmers (89.8%) were aware of climate change variations while over 50% had high level of pesticide use. Temperature, rainfall, number of rainy days, evaporation and sunshine hours were observed climate variables and had both positive and negative significant effects on rice yield. The use and application of pesticides on rice field increased yield by 987.01% and 710.6% with a negative decrease of 247%.
Keywords: Climate change, Variability, Pesticide, Rice production, ARDL model.