ABSTRACT
The study ascertained the effect of soil conservation practices on productivity of arable crop farmers in Abia-State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of this study were to examine the socio-economic characteristics of arable crop farmers using soil conservation practices in the study area, identify types of soil conservation practices used among the arable crop farmers, estimate the use-level of soil conservation practices, analyze the determinants of the use-level of soil conservation practices, determine the productivity of the arable crop farmers, analyze the effect of soil conservation practices and other factors on productivity and determine the various constraints to the use of soil conservation practices by the arable crop farmers in Abia State.The study adopted a multi-stage purposive and random sampling techniques in selecting 120 respondents for the study. Primary data were collected with the use of a well-structured questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and ordinary least square (OLS) techniques. The results showed that the mean age of the farmers was 49 while male farmers dominated farming activities in the area, the mean household size was 7 persons, and the mean farming experience was 19 years while 82% of the respondents were married and the mean farm size was 1.0 hectares while 99% of the respondents in the study acquired one form of formal education or the other. Farmers were aware of the different types of soil conservation practices but the currently major in use includes: multiple cropping, cover crop/planting of legumes, use of organic and inorganic manure and crop residue recycling. The mean use-level of soil conservation practices was 0.471, from the results60 % of the arable crop farmers had low use-level and 40% of the farmers had high use-level. t The tobit regression estimate of the determinants of the use-level of soil conservation practices in the study area showed that education, amount of credit obtained farming experience, extension services, and toposequence significantly and positively influenced use-level of soil conservation practices, while farm income and cost of conservation practices significantly and negatively influenced use-level of soil conservation practices. A mean productivity level of 2.97 and 3.72 were achieved by the low and high users respectively. The polled result of the effect of soil conservation practices and other socio-economic factors on productivity of the arable farmers showed that age, social capital, amount of credit obtained, extension visit, farm size and labour significantly and positively influenced productivity of the farmers while distance of farm from farmer’s home has a negative effect on productivity. The major constrain to the use of soil conservation practices is inadequate farm credit. The study concludes that farmers inability to apply the appropriate conservation practices that suits their soil, and in appropriate quantity needed and small farm size leads to low farm productivity thus, extension agents should devote their time in assissting farmers in application of appropriate conservation practices especially new invented practice and mechanical practices.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement v
Table of contents vi
List of Tables ix
List of Figures x
Abstract xi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Information 1
1.2 Problem Statement 3
1.3 Objectives of Study 5
1.4 Hypotheses of the Study 6
1.5 Justification for the Study 6
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW
OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Conceptual Literature 8
2.1.1 Soil 8
2.1.2 Soil conservation 8
2.1.3 Land
degradation 9
2.1.4
Productivity 9
2.1.5 Soil
erosion
11
2.1.6
Different use-Level of soil conservation practices 12
2.1.7 History
of soil conservation in Nigeria 13
2.1.8 The need
for soil conservation 14
2.1.9 Aim of
soil conservation 22
2.1.10 Soil conservation and erosion control practices developed
by research
And recommended to farmers in southeast Nigeria 22
2.1.11 Agronomic soil conservation practices 23
2.1.12 Soil
management practices 31
2.1.13 Mechanical methods 34
2.1.14
Conceptual frame work 36
2.2 Theoretical Literature 37
2.2.1 Theory
of productivity 37
2.2.2 Theory
of soil conservation 39
2.3 Review of Empirical Literature
40
2.3.1 Review studies on soil conservation practices and productivity 40
2.3.2
Determinants of the use level of soil conservation practices 46
2.3.3
Determinants of productivity 51
2.4 Analytical Framework 55
2.4.1
Descriptive statistics 55
2.4.2
Regression analysis 56
2.4.3 Tobit
regression model 57
CHAPTER 3:
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Study Area 60
3.2 Sampling Procedures 61
3.3.1
Data Collection 62
3.4
Data Analysis 63
3.4.1 Model specification 64
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Socio-economic characteristics of arable crop farmers
using soil conservation Practices 70
4.1.1 Age of the respondent 70
4.1.2 Sex of the respondent 72
4.1.3 Household size of the
respondent 73
4.1.4 Marital status of the respondent 74
4.1.5 Farm size of the respondent 74
4.1.6 Experience of the
respondent 75
4.1.7 Education of the
respondent 76
4.2 Soil Conservation Practices Used
among the Arable Crop Farmers 77
4.3 Use-Level of Soil Conservation
Practices of Arable Crop
Farmers In Abia State 82
4.4 Determinants of the Use Level of
Soil Conservation Practices 85
4.5 Productivity Level
of Arable Crop Farmers 89
4.6 Effect
of Soil Conservation Practices and other Socio-Economic
Factors on the Productivity of arable farmers 91
4.7 Constraints
to the Use of Soil Conservation Practices by Arable
Crop Farmers 91
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary 105
5.2 Conclusion 108
5.3 Recommendation 108
References 111
LIST OF TABLES
4.1 Socio-economic characteristics of
the arable farmers 71
4.2 Types
of soil conservation practices used among the arable Crop farmers 77
4.3 Distribution of the respondents
according to use level of soil conservation practices 83
4.4 Classification of the respondents
according to use level of soil conservation practices 84
4.5 Determinants of the
use-level of soil conservation practices in
the study area 85
4.6 Distribution of respondents
according to their productivity levels 90
4.7 Classification of the respondents
according to use productivity level
91
4.8 Effect of soil conservation
practices and other socio-economic
factorson theproductivity ofhigh users arable crop
farmers. 92
4.9 Effect
of soil conservation practices and other socio-economic
factors
on theproductivity of low users arable crop farmers. 94
4.10 Effectof soil conservation practices and other
socio-economic
factors
on the productivity of arable crop farmers (combine effect)
96
4.11 Constraints to the use of soil conservation practices by
arable
soil
farmers 102
LIST OF FIGURES
1.1
Soil conservation practices
23
1.2 Conceptual frame Work 37
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Soil
is an important resource on which sustainable agriculture and livelihood of the
farmers relay on and this calls for a proper management of this valuable
resource to uphold long-term agricultural productivity of the farm households. According to Ellis,(2000)
not less than a quarter of the world population belongs to farm households and
most of which are in less developed countries of the world resulting to an
increase pressure on the available soil for food production. This pressure on
the soil results to soil infertility and land degradation, which leads to low
Agricultural productivity. According to Food and Agricultural Organisation
(FAO, 2007) the use of soil for agricultural production is one of the strongest
influences affecting environmental quality in many developing countries.
Specifically, practices like unguided application of agrochemicals, bush
burning, deforestation, over-grazing, continuous tillage and uncontrolled farm
mechanization affect the quality of soil and vegetation cover, thereby resulting
into land degradation.
Land degradation was a significant global issue during
the 20th century and remains of high importance in the 21st
century as it affect the environment, agronomic productivity, food security and
quality of life (Eswaran et al.,
2001).Land degradation is a phenomenon that is either natural or human-induced.
Asadu et al., (2004) grouped land
degradation into soil erosion, soil infertility and soil pollution by oil
spillage and industrial waste. Soil degradation processes occurs as a result of
loss of topsoil by the action of water or wind, chemical deterioration such as
nutrient depletion, physical degradation such as compaction and biological
deterioration of natural resources including the reduction of soil biodiversity
(Lal, 2001).Soil degradation is accelerated when the forest cover is removed,
pastures are overgrazed and unsustainable land use patterns such as
short fallow periods and the shift from conventional bush fallowing
system to permanent cultivation caused by population pressure and agricultural
activities. Decline in agricultural productivity as a result of soil
degradation is evaluated in terms of inputs use such as fertilizer/manure,
water management and tillage methods to boost production (Mbagwu, 2003). Soil
degradation is a severe issue in Nigeria, where smaller scale and resource poor
farmers follow extractive farming practice, constituting a hazard to the land
whose containment is helpful for agricultural development, particularly in
societies that are agricultural based (Iheke and Onyenorah, 2012).
Due
to changing human needs and competition for different uses of land, there is
need for systematic land use and sustainable soil conservation approach. In
affirmation, Yohanna et al., (2012)
suggested that, a soil that has been degraded required fallowing and soil
conservation activities for effective rehabilitation. Corroborating this fact,
Panda (2007) emphasized that soil conservation remains the only known way to
sustain the productivity of agricultural land. Badejo and Togun (2001) stated
that, effective soil conservation on agricultural lands guarantees sustainable
food productivity potential of the soil.
The report of Agricultural
Information Bank AIB (2011) justified the need for increased adoption and
practice of soil conservation practices by farmers being more economical,
sustainable, effective and ecological friendly, as it improves resource use
through an integrated management approach, it contributes to sustainable
production and its advantages include lower inputs, stable yields and
productivity and improved soil nutrients exchange. It has been noted that yield
of crops are higher on crop farms with conservation practices than farm without
conservation practices in the same ecological zone (Ibewiro et al., 2000; Saloko and Tian, 2003). Research
on soil conservation has been conducted for many years in sub-sahara Africa
(e.g., Fournier,1967; Greenland and Lal, 1977; Quansah, 1990; Kayombo and
Mrema, 1998; Ehrenstein, 2002) and in Nigeria (Onu, 2006; Junge et al., 2008 and Iheke and Onyenora 2012).
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
Soil
is a medium which supports crop production, efficient crop production depends
greatly on the quality of the soil but due to some factors like: increase in
population, method of farming, high food demand, soil type, implements used in
farming etc, there is a reduction in soil quality resulting to low productivity
of the soil. With increasing population
growth in Abia-State from 2338,487 (NPC 1991) to about 2,845,380 in
2006; and 3,727,300 in 2016 (National Bureau of Statistics- NBS 2016), there is
increase in food demand thus the need for an increase in food production. To ensure
food security, farmers now have to cultivate intensively with little or no
fallow periods, involving in continuous cropping beyond soil threshold limits.
This has resulted in high depletion of the soil which affects the soil quality,
thus leading to low soil productivity (Aruleba and Ajayi, 2011).
Also this population increase results
to land scarcity, conversion of agricultural lands to non-agricultural uses, this
leaves a small space for agricultural activities which does not encourage
commercial farming but supports subsistence and peasant farming, and thus this
hinders economic growth. Therefore, farmers tend to overuse and exercise uncontrollable
farming activities on the available fragmented land (Bite et al., 2008).According to Evan, (2009) low productivity of food
crop farmers’ results from land fragmentation, this goes in line with
Onyenweaku et al., (2010) who stated
that about 90% of Nigerian’s food are produced by small-scale farmers who cultivate
small plots of land and the limited available land, this has made shifting
cultivation a thing of the past.
Most
farmers in Abia State still use traditional methods of farming which involve
clearing of existing vegetation, burning of cleared vegetation, burning of crop
residues, intensive tillage, making of mounds in-sloppy areas etc. These methods
of farming and tools used especially in land preparation affect the
bio-physical quality of the soil which results to loss of soil fertility and low
farm productivity in teams of output.
Soils
in Nigeria suffer deficiencies such as low percentage of organic matter and
nitrogen, shallow depth, high acidity and high content in sesquioxides i.e high
level of iron and aluminum oxides (Osodeke et
al; 2005). These soils are easily leached thereby causing aluminum, iron
and manganese toxicity which is prone to high infiltration, erosion and loss of
useful soil micro flora and fauna which could be a hindrance to crop production. Soil
erosion has detrimental effect on productivity and soil quality since most of the
soil nutrient and soil organic matter are stored in the top-soil that are mostly
affected by erosion (Ahuneku, 2004). Consequences of soil erosion include
damage to farmlands and farm structures, damage to crops and cultural
vegetations, reduction in soil fertility and productivity. These however,
affect the farmers who depend largely on the productivity of the soil for their
livelihood (Igbokwe et al., 2008), Abia
State farmers are not exempted from these effect. However, it is unfortunate
that in the study area there is little study on the effect of soil conservation
practices on the productivity of arable crop farmers in Abia State, Nigeria. Hence,
the need for this study in Abia State.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE
STUDY
The
broad objective of the study was to examine the effect of soil conservation
practices on productivity of arable crop farmers in Abia State the specific
objectives were to:
i.
examine the socio-economic characteristics of arable
crop farmers using soil conservation practices in the study area;
ii. identify types of
soil conservation practices used among the arable crop farmers in the study
area;
iii.
estimate the use-level of soil conservation practices used by the arable crop
farmers in the study area;
iv. ascertain the
determinants of use-level of soil conservation practices by the arable crop
farmers;
v. determine the
productivity of low and high use-level of conservation practices of the arable
crop farmers;
vi. ascertain the effect of
soil conservation practices and othersocio-economic factors on the productivity
of arable crop farmers in Abia State; and
vii. determine the
various constraints to the use of soil conservation practices by the arable
crop farmers in Abia State.
1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
H1: Education, amount of
credit obtained, extension visits, farming experience and topo-sequence positively
affects the use-level of soil conservation practices while farm income and cost
of conservation practices negatively affects the use-level of soil conservation
practices.
H2:
Use-level of soil conservation practices, age, social capital, amount of credit obtain,
extension visit, farm size, labour are positively related to productivity while distance
from home to farm is negatively related to productivity.
1.5 JUSTIFICATION FOR THE STUDY
In most of the developing countries of the
world, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the key to real socio-economic
growth is the judicious exploitation of soil resources to increase agricultural
productivity. In Nigeria, population is increasing rapidly and increased crop
and animal yields are essential to feed the population and to exchange surplus
for manufactured goods and social services (Ohaeri, 2000). Hence, the need for
appropriate soil conservation practices that will enhance soil fertility and
land productivity.
The effect of soil infertility and erosion is a
concern which leads to increasing promotion of soil conservation practices in Nigeria.
Government has funded water-shed management and soil conservation projects like
Nigeria Erosion and Water-shed Management Project (NEWMAP) and farmers have
been admonished to invest their own resources in soil conservation practices so
as to increase the efficiency with which these resources are allocated to soil
conservation activities, the effects of soil infertility and erosion need to be
assessed. The cost of erosion and other soil degradation factors can be used to
determine the priority for action, and the benefit of the potential causes of
action can be used to assess their sustainability and efficiency in resource
use.
This study explores how high productivity can be achieved
with the help of soil conservation practices and would serve as an exploratory
step to identifying those soil conservation practices and socio-economic
factors affecting soil conservation and productivity of arable crop farmers.
This research will also be a guide to
other researchers that may want to do further studies relating to soil conservation
practices, within the study area and Nigeria in general.
Thus, this research findings are expected
to be of help to policy makers as a reference material in policy formulation
especially in Abia State to ensure adequate food security in the State and
Nigeria at large.
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