Agricultural Productivity under Taungya and Non-Taungya Land-Use Options: A Case Study of Vandeikya Local Government, Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

Taungya farming is a special arrangement between the forestry department and farmers , which combines the production of both arable and forest tree cops simultaneously on a piece of land. The practice was adopted inVandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State Nigeria in mid 1950s up to 2000. Using Stratified random sampling, two sets of questionnaire were used to appraise the productivity of some arable crops and forest regeneration under taungya and non-taungya cultural practices. The yields of arable crops were significantly higher under taungya farming that non-taungya practice in the study area. There was however no significant difference in the total forest area regenerated under the two land-use systems. The apparent land hunger among farmers is a favourable factor for adoption of taungya as a land use option in the study area. There is need to adopt multi-species planting approach in future programmes sustainability of the programme. Also, the land tenure system which limits access to land by strangers needs to be reviewed and greater awareness on the programme needs to be generated among the farmers and forestry staff alike.

Key words: Taungya, Agroforestry, arable, productivity, forest.