Farmers’ Perception and Reponses to Soil erosion in Zing Local Government Area of Taraba State, Nigeria

Abstract

Soil erosion by water has remained a serious threat especially in the mountainous regions and sloppy lands where agriculture is practice, causing loss of valuable soil resources and attendant loss of agricultural productivity as well as siltation of the various water bodies across the continent of Africa and other regions of the world. This study is an appraisal of farmers’ perception and responses to soil erosion on their farmlands in Zing Local Government Area of Taraba state. This was in realization that farmers in the study area are farming on erosion prone areas such as hill slopes and flood plains, disregarding the flatlands provided by nature. To arrive at the results obtained, a total of 312 questionnaires were administered to solicit for responses of the farmers on their perception of soil erosion on their farmlands in the area. Descriptive statistics using frequencies converted to percentages was used in analyzing the data. The result shows that 87.2% of the respondents have their farmlands either located on the steep or gentle slopes, and 35.2% of the respondents which constitutes the majority cultivate the hill slopes because of historical reason. It was further established that more than 76 % of the respondents are aware of the consequences of soil erosion on farms located on slopes, but, they do not agree that erosion is an individual problem caused by them. And to some great extent, they farmers have knowledge on measures of controlling soil erosion on their farm lands especially terracing, inter-cropping and molding ridges along contours.

Key Words: Perception, Erosion, farmers, Zing