Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Organic agricultural practices among small holder farmers in South Western Nigeria
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/57598
to fallow and regain its lost nutrients. Crop rotation is another measure that is used by the
farmers for this purpose. In this case, the farm land is not abandoned but crops that are
cultivated on the farm are planted in sequence in order to maintain the soil fertility. Crop
rotation is a practice that is as old as farming practice itself. Subba Rao (1999) and Stockdale,
et al (2000) observed that crop rotations and varieties are selected to suit local conditions having
the potential to sufficiently balance the nitrogen demand of crops. Furthermore, Bending and
Lincoln, (1999) in their work among the US farmers noted that organic growers commonly
plant rapeseed, mustard, and other brassicas as rotation crops to 'clean up' soil during the
winter months. Besides, Crop rotations comprising both grass-clover fields and arable crops
have shown to be relatively robust in relation to most problems with weeds, pests and diseases
(Dubois et al, 1999).
Mulching ranks highly as a cost-effective means of crop residue usage against soil erosion in
annual row-cropping systems on sloping lands; and is at the centre of a resurgent soil conser‐
vation ethic in much of North America (Shelton et al., 1995). However, it is not commonly used
among the vegetable farmers who reported that mulching is predominantly used by yam
producers. The findings of Junge et al, (2009) showed that mulching and cover cropping were
mostly regarded as not labour-intensive, highly cost-effective, compatible and easy and cheap
to adopt. The farmers had a positive impression of the effectiveness as erosion control measures
and also mentioned additional advantages, such as the increased soil fertility from the
decomposition of organic material and the release of nutrients however disadvantage of
mulching was seen in the amount of grass required, the main material used as mulch in the
area.
Other organic agricultural practices used by farmers include practices. Farm sanitation (1.69,
SD=0.8), intercropping (1.66, SD=0.2), green manure (1.60, SD=0.9) and cover crop (1.55,
SD=0.8). Farm Sanitation is keeping the field clean which help in preventing the growth and
multiplication of weed, pest and diseases. The reason may be because farmers are also aware
of those things that can prevent them from having good yield or output. Farmers go to farm
everyday even after the planting period to weed at interval, remove any form of crop residue
or decay of dead animal on their farm that can attract pests and diseases to the crop planted
and can cause pollution in the environment. Farmers are aware that if weed are left to grow
on their plot, it will compete with the crop planted for the available nutrients and will reduce
their yield during harvest. Besides, some weeds affect the crop leaving a residual effect on the
crop which can affect the taste or the appearance of the crop. Whenever this happened, the
farmer will run at a loss because such crop will not attract buyers and may have to be sold at
a ridiculous price.
Baumann et al., (2000) showed that intercropping as a cultural method can be used to suppress
weeds and reduces pest population because of the diversity of crops grown. According to
Sullivan (2003), if susceptible plants are separated by non-host plants that can act as a physical
barrier to the pest, the susceptible plant will suffer less damage. Furthermore, intercropping
reduced the nitrate content in the soil profile as intercropping uses soil nutrients more
efficiently than sole cropping (Zhang and Long Li, 2003).
