Study of spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall in Nagaland (India)

Cropping system of a region is decided by and large, by number of soil and climatic parameter which determines overall agro-ecological setting for nourishment and appropriateness of a crop or set of crops for cultivation. Rainfall is one of the important climatic parameter influencing the cropping pattern, productivity, flooding and drought hazards, erosion and sedimentation. It is therefore necessary to study the spatial and temporal variation of rainfall for judging the agricultural production potential and sustainability of agricultural production system. However, rainfall has one the highest spatial-temporal variability especially in mountain region where in addition, there is scarcity of information. Planning suitable measures for mitigating the problems requires through knowledge of the rainfall pattern.The present study was taken up to analyze the spatial and temporal variation of rainfall in Nagaland state of India. The state is mainly dependent on agrarian economy and thus knowledge of rainfall distribution in space and time is of significance for agricultural planning. The analysis of rainfall showed that there exists a wide variation in the rainfall amounts with variation from 859 mm to 2123 mm. Annual rainfall pattern indicates that northern part receives higher rainfall as compared to eastern and western side of the state. Similarly for July and monsoon season northern side receives higher rainfall. However, during December, Northern side receives less rainfall as compared to eastern and western part of the state.