Crop farmers use of environmentally sustainable agricultural practices in Ogun State

Abstract

The study was carried out to assess crop farmers' use of environmentally sustainable agricultural practices in Ogun State. Multi – Stage-sampling and simple random sampling procedure was employed to select two hundred (200) farmers from villages selected from the four agricultural zones of Ogun State Agricultural Development Programmes.
The study revealed that the farmers interviewed had a mean age of 40 years, they possessed some level of education (90.0%), mostly married (59.5%) and having up to 6 people as dependants (47.0%). Also, the farmers mean farm size was 1.5 ha as majority (62.0%) are having 1 – 2 ha of land leased for the purpose of farming (66.0%) among the 54.0% that had up to 10 years farming experience. The study further revealed that though the farmers were close to their environment, their usage level of environmentally sustainable agricultural practices is very low (68.0%). The study shows that 78.5%, 74.0% and 67.5% of the farmers are involved in crop rotation, bush fallow and mulching. It is worth noting as shown in the study that tree planting which is supposed to be encouraged is practiced by only 31.0% of the farmers. However, at p < 0.05, significant differences exist in the use of environmental sustainable practices based on gender (x² cal. = 8.27; (x² tab. = 2.71), marital status ((x² cal. = 6.54; (x² tab. = 2.71) and farm size ((x² cal. = 9.90; (x² tab. = 6.25) of farmers and usage level of ESAP at p – value < 0.05. It is therefore recommended that Village Extension Agents should encourage proper use of environmentally sustainable agricultural practices among the farmers through workshops, seminars and trainings. The farmers should be made to know these practices and how best to integrate or incorporate these practices in their agricultural activities for better living as well as protect the environment. Finally, the study recommends that efforts should be geared toward making the environment conducive for the populace and future generations.
.

Keywords: Soil management practices, environment, degradation, and farmers

Journal of Environmental Extension Vol. 6 2007: pp. 75-78