Volume 11, Issue 29, January - June, 2025

Exploring the impact of climate change on selected local rice genotypes in the Coastal Savannah agroecological zone of Ghana

Francis Gbefo1^1♦, Kingsley Joseph Taah², Josiah Wilson Tachie-Menson², Bright Salah Freduah³, Phanuel Klogo⁴

¹Peki College of Education, Department of Science, P.O Box 14, Peki, Ghana
²University of Cape Coast, Department of Crop Science, Cape Coast, Ghana
³University of Ghana, Legon, Soil and Irrigation Research Centre, Ghana
⁴Ho Technical University, Department of Agriculture Science and Technology, Ghana

^♦Corresponding author
Peki College of Education, Department of Science, P.O Box 14, Peki, Ghana

ABSTRACT

In Ghana, rice (Oryza sativa) is the second most significant cereal crop after maize. However, rice cultivation faces several challenges, including low yields further aggravated by climatic variability, raising substantial concerns for food security. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of climate change impact on the growth and yield of four local rice genotypes (CRI-Amankwatia, CRI-Dartey, Ex-Baika, and Ex-Viono) cultivated in the Coastal Savannah agroecological zone using the calibrated and evaluated CRES-Rice model within the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT). The CERES-Rice crop model within the DSSAT software was employed to predict rice yields for two planting seasons under mid- 21st-century climate scenarios (2040–2069) from two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs 4.5 and 8.5). These predictions were compared to simulated yields from a historical period (1980–2009) using five Global Circulation Models (GCMs): CCM4, MPI-ESM-MR, HadGEM2-ES, GFDL-ESM2M, and MIROC5. The findings suggest that declining rainfall and rising temperatures due to climate change could shorten the flowering and maturity periods. Further, rice production declined in both seasons across all climate scenarios, with the most significant decline occurring during the minor (dry) season, reaching up to 28.3% under the higher emission scenario. This research constitutes the first evaluation of climate change impacts on the four indigenous rice genotypes within the Coastal Savannah agroecological zone of Ghana.

Keywords: Coastal Savannah, climate change, local rice, genotypes, resilience

Climate Change, 2025, 11(29), e5cc1061

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v11i29.e5cc1061

Published: 25 February 2025