Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 17 ISSUE 3
Written by Emeka OSUJI, Obasi UKOHA, Jude NWARU, Christian ONYENWEAKU

The study was designed to examine the impact of sustainable soil management techniques on land productivity of arable crop farmers in Imo State, Nigeria. Despite various efforts to produce basic foods for the increasing population in Nigeria, the track record of performance over the years has proved abortive. This stems from the use of variant unsustainable soil management techniques which are concomitant to soil erosion, nutrient depletion and decline in food production. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 209 arable crop farmers. Objectives of this study were elicited from the sampled respondents through a well structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools, average treatment effect (ATE) and local average treatment effect (LATE) models. Results showed that farmers in the area have varied knowledge of sustainable soil management techniques (SSMT). The PSM and IPSW estimates were N141.14 and N97.06 respectively while the LATE by WALD and IV were N152.26 and N158.17. This implies that the use of SSMT has an impact on the productivity of land per unit increase in rent. Hence, farmers at all level should be encouraged to practice efficient soil management techniques in order to improve the productivity of the land.

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