LEVEL OF SOIL FERTILITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AMONG ARABLE CROP FARMERS IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study assessed the level of soil fertility management practices (SFMP) among arable crop farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling process was used in selecting 95 arable crop farmers Data were collected using a well-structured interview schedule and analysed using descriptive statistics and Person Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). Results showed that respondents’ average age was 47 years, mostly males (81%), married (85%) with an average farm size of 1.7ha who cultivated mainly yam (86.3%) cassava (82.1%) and maize (52.6%). The respondents had array of SFMPs predominantly cultural methods, inorganic fertilizers and organic manure in that order. The level of utilization was predominantly cultural methods of ridging across the slope with a weighted mean score (WMS) of 2.70 and mulching (WMS=2.50); inorganic fertilizers: urea (WMS=1.64) and NPK (WMS=1.45) and organic manure: poultry manure (WMS=0.84) and animal dung (WMS=0.77). The major source of information regarding SFMP was radio (85.3%), market-place (83.2%), and fellow farmers (80.0%). PPMC analysis showed that farm size (p=0.00), was significantly related to the level of SFMP. Conclusively, farm size influences the level of SFMP. It is therefore recommended that farmers should be enlightened to utilize relevant farming system techniques to improve on production of arable crops.

Keywords

• arable crop farmers
• soil fertility management
• socio-economic
• information