UTILIZATION OF SOIL CONSERVATION PRACTICES AMONG ROOT AND TUBER FARMERS IN OYUN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KWARA STATE, NIGERIA
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Date
2017-04
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Publisher
Agrosearch, Journal of Agriculture, food and Development
Abstract
One of the main reasons for the crop failure is underestimating the importance of soil status
thereby causing mismanagement of the soil with inappropriate farming practices. This study
therefore, assessed the soil conservation practices among root and tuber crop farmers in
Oyun Local Government area of Kwara State, Nigeria. A two stage sampling technique was
employed to select a total of 160 respondents used for the study. Data were collected and
analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of the study revealed
that the mean age of the respondents was 45.4 years with majority (69.4%) being male and
about half (50.0%) had one form of formal education or another. Findings showed strong
positive perception towards soil conservation practices using beneficial statement such as
“Only farmers engage in soil management” (3.49±1.06), “Proper soil use is enhanced by tree
planting” (3.81±0.83). Results showed that among the respondents mixed cropping
(2.35±0.59), conservation tillage (2.26±0.77) and bush fallowing (2.21±0.74) were always
used and ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. There were positive and significant relationship
between respondents educational level (r= 0.089, p=0.000) and household size (r= 0.012,
p=0.000) and their extent of usage of soil conservation practices at 5% level of significance.
The study concluded that soil conservation practices were always used by root and tuber crop
farmers and their perception were also positive towards it. It is recommended that root and
tuber expansion programme should be strengthened and expanded to other communities that
have not benefited from the programme
Description
Keywords
Soil management practices, Utilization, Root and Tuber Crops, Farmers
Citation
2. Oladipo, F.O., Bolarin, O., Daudu, A.K., Kayode, A.O & Awoyele, P.O (2017): Utilization of Soil Conservation Practices Among Root and Tuber Farmers in Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria AGROSEARCH A Journal of Agriculture, Food and Development. 17 (2); 99–109 Published by Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin. Available online at Vol. 17 No. 2 (2017) | Agrosearch (ajol.info) DOI: 10.4314/agrosh.v17i2.8