Assessment of the effects of soil fertility management technologies on the yield of selected food crops in Oyo State, Nigeria
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study assessed the effect of soil fertility management technologies (SFMTs) on food crop production in Oyo State, Nigeria. It specifically examined the socio-economic characteristics of the food crop farmers, identified the various SFMTs practiced and assessed the yield of selected food crops under the identified SFMTs. The results of the study showed that 70% of the respondents used at least one out of the seven (7) identified SFMTs. Highest proportion (36.9%) of the respondents used cover crops while 17.9% applied inorganic fertilizers alone. To assess yield, the technologies were reclassified into three. Empirical results showed that yam and maize had the highest yield (3354.80kg/ha and 1093kg/ha respectively) under inorganic SFMT while cassava had the highest yield (5534.72kg/ha) under non-usage of technologies. It was concluded that there is no significant difference in the yield of yam under the identified SFMTs, but there was for maize and cassava. The study therefore recommended that yam production be done under any of the technologies, while both maize and cassava production should be carried out under the technologies which gave the highest yields.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Adebayo, A. (1997). The Soil–A Living Body. Inaugural Lecture Series Number 115. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Adesimi, A.A. (1988). Farm management analysis with perspective through the development process. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, pp 18-19.
Bationo, A. (2009). Soil Fertility–Paradigm Shift through Collective Action. http//knowledge.cta.int.
Bationo, A., Boaz, W., Job, K. and Joseph, K. (Eds). (2007). Advances in integrated soil fertility Management in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities. Springer–Verlag.
Food and Agriculture Organization (2001). Soil Fertility Management In Support of Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa. Rome.
Henao, J. and Baanante, C.A. (1999). “Nutrient Depletion in the Agricultural Soils of Africa”. International Food Policy Research Institute. Vision 2020 Brief No. 62.
Henao, J. and Baanante, C.A. (2006). Agricultural Production and Soil Nutrient Mining in Africa. Summary of IFDC Technical Bulletin, IFDC, Muscle Shoals, Alabama. USA.
Kang, B.T., Wilson, G.F. and Sipkens, I. (1986). Alley cropping (Leucaena leucocephala and Maize) in Southern Nigeria. Plant Soil 63 pp. 163–179.
Olayide, S.O. and Heady, E.O. (1982). Introduction to Agricultural Production Economics. Ibadan University Press. University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Polson, R.A. and Spencer, D.S.C. (1991). The technology adoption process in subsistence agriculture: the case of cassava in southwestern Nigeria. Agricultural System 36(1) pp. 65–78.
Plucknett, D.L. (1993). Science and Agricultural Transformation. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, USA.
Ringe-Metsger, A. and Diehl, L. (1993). Farm Household Systems in Northern Ghana: A Case Study in Farming System-Oriented Research for the Development of Improved Crop Production Systems. Nyankpala Agricultural Report No. 9, 1993 Nyankpala, Ghana. 249 pp.
Ruthernberg, H. (1980). Farming Systems in the Tropics, 3rd edition. Oxford University Press, London, UK, p. 424.
Sanchez, P.A., Shepherd, K.D., Soule, M.J., Place, F.M., Mokwunye, A.U., Buresh, R.J., Kwesiga, F.R., Izac, A.N., Ndiritu, C.G. and Woomer, P.L. (1997). Soil fertility replenishment in Africa: An investment in natural resource capital. In: Replenishing soil fertility in Africa, ed. Buresh RJ and Sanchez PA. SSA Special Publication. Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A.: Soil Science Society of America and American Society of Agronomy.
Stoorvogel, J.J. and Smaling, E.M.A. (1990). Assessment of soil nutrient depletion in Sub- Saharan Africa, 1983–2000. Report 28. Wageningen, The Netherlands: The Winand Staring Centre for Integrated Land, Soil and Water Research (SC- DLO).
