Contribution of agroforestry practice to artificial forest regeneration in Edo State of Nigeria

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the contribution of agroforestry practice to regeneration of forest estates in Edo state. A well structured questionnaire was administered to 230 randomly-selected respondents in eight Local Government Areas practising agroforestry in government reserved forests, based on sampling intensities of 5, 20 and 30% to elicit information for the study. Secondary data were obtained from the Forestry Department and Area Offices on land rate, size of plots allocated to farmer, and areas covered by timber species. Data were analyzed with the use of descriptive statistics of frequency and proportion and inferential statistics using t-test and ANOVA. Results showed that there were significant differences (P<0.05) between the location of farms within and outside reserves. About 97% of the respondents were practising the traditional taungya farming system. The results also revealed that 81.7% of the farmers were given free seedlings by the government, while 13.8 and 4.5% sourced their planting materials from wildings and market, respectively. Twenty-nine percent of the respondents affirmed that the major problem of agroforestry practice in the study area was absence of field staff while 27.7% of them believed that the problem was inadequate incentive for the farmers. It is expedient to have sustainable artificial forest regeneration practice in place, given the steady decline of the forest estate.