Soil Health Management Practices among Smallholder Maize Growers in Gwagwalada Area Council of Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

Abstract

The basis of successful, productive, and ecologically responsible agricultural systems is healthy soil. Examining the soil health management practices and their determinants would help in achieving Sustainable Development Goals 1 (no poverty) and 2 (no hunger). This study assessed the soil health management options among smallholder maize growers in Gwagwalada Area Council of Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. It specifically examined the various soil health management options employed by the smallholder maize farmers. The multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample a total of 105 respondents. The result of the various soil health management options used by the smallholder maize farmers in the study area showed that 38.1% of the respondents used organic amendments. The result of the multinomial logit regression showed that the coefficients of the smallholder farmers’ age (p<0.01) and cooperative membership (p<0.01) negatively influence the choice of the smallholder farmers to use cover cropping as opposed to using crop rotation. The result revealed that the major constraints militating against the maize farmers' choice of soil health management options are non-availability of labor; neighbourhood norms, customs, culture and traditional beliefs about soil health; and illiteracy and poor access to and control of land. The study concludes that there is a significant relationship between the maize farmers’ choice of soil health management options and their socio-economic characteristics, farm-specific and institutional factors. The study suggests that policymakers can develop new financing options for smallholder maize farmers.