JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY (Volume 11)

Abstract

The study assessed the use of sustainable land management practices among food crop farmers in Niger State and Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select a total of 350 farmers and primary data were collected using questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and multivariate probit regression model were used to analyze the data. The results reveled that the sustainable practices mostly undertaken by the farmers under agronomic practice was sole cropping (81.43%), the most undertaken cultivation practice was ridge tillage (92.00%), structural and mechanical erosion control practice mostly carried out was construction of ridges across field slopes (23.14%), and soil management practices (fertilizer application (93.43%) were the structural and mechanical erosion control practice mostly carried out. The results of multivariate probit showed that the significant determinants of land management practices among the farmers include membership of farmers’ association (p≤0.10), source of information (p≤0.01), years spent in school, age (p≤0.01), days unable to go to work or farm (p≤0.01), years of farming experience (p≤0.05), distance from home to nearest market (p≤0.01), rainfall sufficiency for crop production (p≤0.05), adequacy of soil fertility (p≤0.05), tenancy security of farm land (p≤0.10) and access to extension (p≤0.01). It was recommended that more sustainable land management practices should be adopted by the farmers.