Abstract

This study assessed the use of sustainable land management practices (SLMP) among arable crop farmers in the study area. Using three stage sampling technique, 120 arable crop farmers were selected as study sample. Interview schedule was utilized to elicit relevant information and data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results show that most (90.8%) of the respondents were males, married (90.0%) with mean age, household size and years of formal education of 50.5±12.3, 7 ± 3 persons and 8.0±5.2 years, respectively.  Most (87.5%) of the respondents were primarily engaged in farming with an average farming experience and annual primary income of 19.6±11.7years and ₦418,712.50±519,625.60, respectively. An average farm size of 5.4±3.2ha was mainly grown with maize (85.0%), cassava (77.5%) and yam (51.7%) while only 7.5% of the respondents had access to farm credit. The most frequently utilized SLMP among respondents included crop rotation (1.67), multiple cropping (1.60) and use of contour bund (1.58) while purchasing power of land users (1.57), poor incentives for natural resources conservation (1.42) and limited use of land due to tenure system (1.38) were the main constraints to utilization of SLMP in arable crop production in the study area. Positive relationship was found between years of formal education (r = 0.01, p≤0.05) and utilization of SLMP while age (r = -0.16, p≤0.05) was negatively related to utilization. The study concluded that SLMP were moderately utilized and recommended that government should implement special incentive packages for farmers that utilize SLMP towards improved utilization.

Key Words: Sustainable land management, Contour bund, Purchasing power, Incentives