Sorghum Forage Farming for Crisis Resolution and Food Security in a Changing World: A Preliminary Study of Taraba State Nigeria Sorghum Production, Prospects and Problems

Abstract

Taraba State is endowed with natural resources; vast lands, water resources, animal resources and human resources. However, amidst plenty, food insecurity and incessant crisis ravage the government efforts to sustainable agricultural and economic development. This paper discusses the nexus between Climate vagaries and skirmish leading to shift in crop yields. It assesses grain yield variation, problems and prospect across the local governments in Taraba State. Apart from personal observation and focus group discussion, the paper relied mainly on secondary data that were generated through the analysis of relevant data from government and non-governmental agencies. Rainfall and agronomic data were collected from Upper Benue River Basin and Ministry of Taraba Agricultural Development Program (TADP) respectively. These were collated and analyzed using standardized anomaly index and linear regression in SPSS environment. The study fails to reject the null hypotheses that no relationship exists between the average annual rainfall and quantity of sorghum produced annually. It recommends application of biotechnology using (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) for animal feeds and food crop diversification to cushion the ever increasing demand for forage that often vortex crisis in the state. SFF can stand heavy grazing reduce roaming encourage ranching eliminate crisis.