EVALUATION OF SOIL FERTILITY OF SMALL SCALE FARMERS’ FIELDS IN IJUMU AREA SOUTHERN GUINEA SAVANNAH REGION, KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

This study evaluates the fertility of small scale farmers’ field in Ijumu Area of Kogi State. The area lies within the Southern

Guinea Savannah zone of Nigeria. The study area is having three districts; Ijumu Oke, Ijumu Arin and Gbedde. 60 farmers

were identified through the Agricultural Development Agency and questionnaires were administered to them to identify soil

management practices and problems among the farmers. Soil samples were collected from three farmers’ field, one farmer

field per district. The questionnaires were collated and analyzed using percentage while fertility evaluation was done using the

Fertility Capability Classification system version 4. Results obtained, revealed that mixed Cropping (88.33%), continuous

Cropping (80%), use of Mulching (90%) are common among farmers in the area. 85% of the respondents do not carry out soil

testing. Problems such as reduction in crop yield (75%), depletion of soil nutrients (85%), sloppiness of farm land (40%) and

erosion (28.33%) were identified by farmers in the area. The majority of the farmers use basic implements/ manual labour

(86.67%) for land cultivation. They do not use organic manure (85%) and do not plant legumes for soil fertility maintenance

(68.33%). The Fertility Capability Classification revealed that Ijumu Oke soil could be classified as Lca, Ijumu Arin; LLak

and Gbede; CCaSC which indicates that the capability of the soils of the study area to produce at the three locations is

conditioned by texture of the soil surface and subsoil, acidity and aluminum toxicity. It is concluded that there is need for

improvement on soil management practices in other to sustain the productivity of soils of study area.

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