Abstract
This study focused on the identification of competency improvement needs of crop farmers in soil erosion management in Enugu State. Five research questions guided the study while four hypotheses were formulated and tested at probability of 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted survey research design. The study was carried out in Enugu State, made up of three agricultural zones – Awgu, Enugu and Nsukka. The population of study was
3,562 made up of 484 teachers of agriculture, 38 agricultural extension agents and 3,040 registered crop farmers from the three agricultural zones in the state. The sample of the study was 279, made up of 59 teachers of agriculture, 38 agricultural extension agents and 182 crop farmers. Proportionate (12%) random sampling technique was used to select the sample for teachers of agriculture and (6%) for crop farmers while the entire members of agricultural extension agents was utilized because of its small size. The questionnaire for the study was developed from the review of related literature and used to collect data for the study. The questionnaire was face-validated by three experts, two from Agricultural Education Unit of the Department of Vocational Teacher Education and one from the Department of Soil Science of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. It was tested for reliability using Cronbach’s alpha method which yielded a coefficient of
0.84. Eight research assistants helped in administering 279 copies of the questionnaire to the respondents. They were all retrieved and analyzed using weighted mean, standard deviation and Improvement Needed Index (INI) to answer the research questions, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to test the hypotheses of no significant difference. It was found out that 8 areas methods and their corresponding 84 competency cluster items were needed by farmers for soil erosion prevention and control. It was also found out that farmers needed improvement in the four modules and their corresponding competency cluster items in soil erosion prevention and control. The hypotheses tested showed that there is no significant difference in the opinions of teachers of agriculture, agricultural extension agents and crop farmers on 32 competency cluster items out of 84 competencies needed by farmers for soil erosion prevention and control in Enugu State. It was discovered among others, that there was a significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of the three groups of respondents on 52 competency cluster items in soil erosion prevention and control. Based on the findings, some recommendations were made which include; that the 4 modules and their corresponding competency cluster items identified by the study be packaged into a training programme for skill acquisition centres in Enugu State for training and retraining of farmers in soil erosion prevention and control for increased crop production.
Background of the Study
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Soil is the upper layer of the earth on which plants and animals grow and develop. Plaster (1992) defined soil as loose mineral and organic material on the surface that serves as a medium for the growth of land plants. Emone (2003) explained soil as an outer, weathered layer of earth’s crust which has the potential to support plant and animal life. The author further stated that soil is a dynamic natural body on the surface of the earth on which plants grow and obtain nutrients.
The submissions of the authors cited above suggest that soil provides a medium for the growth of plants. With reference to this study, soil is the upper layer of the earth’s crust which has the potential to support plant growth and development.
Soil as stated by Olaitan and Lombin (1984), is a medium for plant growth and serves several functions such as a nutrient source, water source, anchorage to plant and a medium for biological activity. The authors further stated that of 16 elements needed by most plants, they obtain 13 from the soil. In the context of this study, soil is of great importants to farmers of Enugu State as it supports the growth of their crops and yield. When the soil is not well managed the particles and nutrients can be swept away by erosion through water, wind or human activities.
Soil erosion in the view of Brady and Weil (1999) is the wearing away of land surface by running water, wind, ice or other geological agents including such processes as gravitational agent. The authors noted that it is the detachment and movement of soil or rock by water, ice, wind or gravity. Olaitan (2005) stated that soil erosion is the detachment and transfer of soil particles from their original place to another by water, wind or human activities. The author further stated that there are two major effects of soil erosion. These are the positive and negative effects. The author stated that the positive effects are beneficial to man, animal and plant in the following
ways: (i) soil formation (ii) deposition of alluvial soil on valley floor and at the mouth of river (iii) creates job opportunity for people and (iv) deposition of sand. Negative effect in the view of Stamp, Holy and Mitchell in Chukwurah (1999) are in the following ways: leads to general decrease in soil fertility, displacement of population, loss of residential houses and farm crops, pollution of water resources, change in topography and disrupt roads.
Akamigbo (1996) stated that the degree of steep slopes are susceptible and vulnerable to erosion, leaching and landslides. Eyong in Okonkwo (2007) stated that soil loss from Nigeria is estimated at 300 million tones per annum with Eastern states accounting for more than half. With reference to this study, soil erosion is the detachment and transfer of soil particles from their original place to another by water, wind or human activities. The effects of soil erosion through loss of soil particles, nutrients among others has resulted
into poor yield of crops. For soil to retain its fertility for crop production, it requires management.
Management in the view of Yerkes (1994), is the act, manner of
organizing or controlling something. Anyakoha and Eluwa (2000) explained management as planned activity directed towards the realization of value, the satisfaction of wants and accomplishment of desired goal. Morgan (1996) stated that the aim of soil erosion management is to maintain fertility and structure of the soil. In the context of this study, soil erosion management is planned activity directed towards the maintenance of soil fertility and structure of the soil. Soil erosion in Enugu State will be effectively managed if farmers have adequate competency.
Competency as stated by Olaitan and Ali (1997), is the successful performance of a task through the use of knowledge, skills, attitude and judgement. The authors further stated that it can be referred to as the state of being functionally adequate in the performance of one’s duty. Ogwo (2002) explained that competency is characterized by clearly stated, attainable and measurable objectives, followed by identified knowledge and skills that the
learners have to master within a given time. The approach, the author further stated, emphasizes the demonstration of skills on the job and it is performance oriented. Hornby (2003) defined competency as the knowledge, skills and ability to do what is needed. Olaitan (2003) said that to be competent means the individual has acquired knowledge, skills, attitudes and judgement, which he requires in order to perform successfully at a specific proficiency level in any given work. With reference to this study competency is the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitude needed by crop farmers for effective soil erosion management.
Crop as stated by Yerkes (1994), is cultivated plants or agricultural produce such as grain, vegetables or fruits. Della (1998) defined crop as produce of cultivated plants. In the context of this study, crop is the produce of cultivated plants such as grain, vegetable or fruits and others grown by farmers.
Farmer as defined by Della (1998) is the owner or manager of a farm. Olaitan (2005) defined farmer as a person who grows plants or rears animals for the benefit of mankind. A crop farmer therefore, is a person who grows crops such as grains, cassava, vegetable and others for the benefit of mankind. Okonkwo (2006) said that farmers use various methods like crossbars, hedges, construction of local channels, digging of catchment pits and sand bags to prevent and control erosion. The author said that some of these methods were passed down from generations while others were acquired from teachers of agriculture and extension agents through formal and informal teaching respectively.
A teacher of agriculture in the explanation of Olaitan, Okeme and Egbe (2009), is a person who is trained in pedagogy and technical areas of agriculture and is charged with the responsibility of imparting acquired knowledge, skills and attitude to students in a secondary school. Olaitan and Mama (2001) clarified that a teacher of agriculture performs certain responsibilities in secondary school such as imparting knowledge, skills to students in various areas of agriculture such as crop production, soil science,
animal science, fishery among others; stimulates students’ interest to participate in agricultural activities in the school, encourages students to promote the growth and development of agriculture in the school through co- operative and club among others. An extension agent in the opinion of Iwena (2008), is a person who is trained in management of crops and livestock and is involved in the dissemination of new ideas and techniques from the research institutions to the farmers. An extension agent acts as an intermediary between researchers and farmers. In the context of this study, an extension agent is a person who identifies crop farmers’ problems on soil erosion prevention and control: takes the problems to the research institutes for solution and then takes the solutions back to the farmers. An extension agent also develops appropriate programmes for training farmers in soil erosion management practices in their environment. Ubakama, Eruchalu, Okafor and Ezeani (2009) enumerated functions of an extension agent to include the following.
(a) An extension agent organizes and conducts training for farmers. The extension agent sets up demonstration farms to encourage farmers because most illiterate farmers are always skeptical of any innovation;
(b) He plans and executes farming education programme. As the extension agent goes about helping farmers to identify their problems and solve them, he has enough facts to plan and execute farming programme that concerns the community;
(c) He acts as a connecting link between the research institutes and the
farming communities. The extension agents help the farmers to identify their problems; the extension agents take the problems to research institutes like universities or special agencies set by the government. He also takes the solutions proffered by the research institutes to farmers for adoption to solve their farming problems;
(d) He teaches the farmers improved farm practices. At the demonstration
farms set by the extension agent, farmers are meant to observe and participate in practising new farm methods.
In the area of the study, crop farmers, agricultural extension agents and teachers of agriculture would be of great help in identifying the competencies in soil erosion prevention and control for retraining farmers for success in soil erosion management. Furthermore, Chukwuma (1997) stated that farmers currently employ the following measures for soil erosion prevention and control: (1) cover cropping (2) concreting (3) catchment pits (4) crossbars and (5) tillage. The author stated that despite these efforts, however, there is an increase in the incidence of soil erosion menace in the state due to inappropriate application of control measures, dearth of continuing farmers education, emergency of new changes in erosion control measure. The improved performance of crop farmers in Enugu State will depend on effective management of soil erosion.
Improvement in the view of Hornby (2008), is the act of making something better than before. Robinson (2000) explained improvement as the development of circumstance in which something is lacking to better standard or quality than before. For farmers to improve, they need to acquire effective soil erosion management competencies.
Need in the view of Hornby (2001), is to require something because it is essential or very important. Quirk (1995) stated that need refers to areas in which performance level is less than expected level. The basic reality in a need is that something desirable is lacking, that is, there is a gap. It therefore, means that when the crop farmers become deficient in the skills needed in soil erosion management, they require improvement to become efficient. For effective improvement to take place, it is necessary to identify the need gap.
Need gap in the view of Chuta (1992) is what one requires in order to meet a target standard: that gap to be filled constitutes a need. Rosett and Sheldon in Okeme, Ifeanyieze and Eze (2009) stated that need gap is the difference between the real performance and expected performance. That is Actual Need (AN) minus Expected Performance Level (EPL) equals the Need Gap (NG). To find out the need gap requires a need gap analysis which
could be accomplished through observation and perception. In the context of this study, need gap analysis will constitute the difference between the perceived level of performance and the expected level of performance of crop farmers in soil erosion management.
The performance of crop farmers in soil erosion management in Enugu
State which falls below the level of supporting high yields of crop indicated that there is need to improve them in soil erosion management practices. It is therefore, necessary to determine the competency improvement needs of crop farmers in soil erosion management in Enugu State.
Statement of the Problem
In Enugu State, soil erosion is one of the most ecological problems faced by farmers. Farmers have been disturbed by erosion menace. The effects of soil erosion through loss of soil particles, nutrients among others, have resulted into poor yield of crops. Akamigbo in Olaitan (2005) stated that more than 60% of the total land area for agriculture in Nigeria is regarded as marginal land due to erosion. This is also applicable to Enugu State. Gosin in wikipedia (2009) stated that some percentage of farmland, roadside embankments have been lost at Ezeagu, Udi and Ngwo as a result of erosion.
The researcher observed that traditional practices such as construction of local channels, digging of catchment pits, tillage, cover cropping, use of bags, crossbars and the like have failed to put a stop to the devastations by soil erosion in the state. Chukwuma in Okonkwo (2007) stated that many reasons have been adduced for this state of affairs, among which are inappropriate application of control measures, dearth of continuing farmers’ education, very heavy rainfall during the rain season, emergence of new challenges in erosion control and some human activities such as bush burning and deforestation. The resultant effect is that the available land for the farmers for growing their crops becomes reduced yearly due to erosion. Therefore, farmers move from one place to another searching for small pockets of land for growing crops to feed their families. This practice makes
some farmers in Enugu State to have many pockets of farms at various locations for growing of crops such as cassava, maize, yam, vegetables and others.
Olaitan (2008) stated the observed consequences of traditional practices on farmers, their families and state as follows:
a. The farmer is easily involved in stress due to movement from one farm location to another.
b. The farmer remains poor because of his subsistent farming with low yield and low income.
c. The farmer’s family becomes poor and depends on the market for food supply.
d. The state remains poor agriculturally as the land remains degraded and marginalized.
If Enugu State must improve her economy through agriculture, efforts must be made to help farmers prevent and control soil erosion menace in agricultural land. But the researcher observed that the farmers do not possess enough competencies for control of erosion and where such competencies are possessed they only apply them wrongly leading to more land degradation. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the improvement needs of crop farmers in soil erosion prevention and control in Enugu State.
Purpose of the Study
The major purpose of the study is to identify the competency improvement needs of crop farmers in soil erosion management in Enugu State.
Specifically, the study sought to:
1. Identify competencies needed by farmers in soil erosion prevention and control in the following areas: tillage and making of crossbars, cover cropping and mulching, terracing and channeling, strip cropping and making of contour bunds.
2. Determine competencies in tillage and making of crossbars where farmers needed improvement.
3. Ascertain competencies in cover cropping and mulching where farmers needed improvement.
4. Determine competencies in terracing and channeling where farmers needed improvement.
5. Ascertain competencies in strip cropping and making of contour bunds
where farmers needed improvement.
Significant of the Study
This study will be of benefit to crop farmers, government, skill acquisition centres, extension agents and the community members who are involved in erosion management in Enugu State.
This study provided information to crop farmers in the state on the
competencies where they needed improvement in soil erosion prevention and control on their farms. This information will help them seek for appropriate skill acquisition centre or organizations close to them such as co-operative society that can help organize improvement training for them in soil erosion prevention and control.
This study provided information on the competency improvement
needs of crop farmers to government. This information could be used by government to provide improvement training to farmers in soil erosion management practices through workshop, seminar and skill acquisition centre.
The study provided information on competency improvement needs of crop farmers to administrators of skill acquisition centre. This information can be used by administrators of skill acquisition centre to develop training programme for improving the competencies in soil erosion prevention and control.
This study provided information on competency improvement needs of crop farmers to extension agents. Such information can be transmitted by them to research centre or for the development of appropriate programmes for training farmers in soil erosion management practices in their environment.
The study provided information on competency improvement needs of crop farmers to the community members. Community members can use this information for training on how to control erosion in their urban settlement through skill acquisition centre or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) willing to help farmers prevent and control soil erosion in their environment.
Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study:
1. What are the competencies needed by crop farmers in soil erosion prevention and control (tillage and making of crossbars, cover cropping and mulching, terracing and channeling, strip cropping and making of contour bunds)?
2. What are the competency improvement needs of crop farmers in tillage
and crossbars?
| 3. | What are the competency improvement | needs | of | crop | farmers | in |
| mulching and cover cropping? | ||||||
| 4. | What are the competency improvement | needs | of | crop | farmers | in |
| channeling and terracing? | ||||||
| 5. | What are the competency improvement | needs | of | crop | farmers | in |
| making contour bunds and strip cropping? |
Hypotheses for the Study
Four null hypotheses were formulated and tested at P < 0.05 level of significance:
1. There was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the
responses of teachers of agriculture, agricultural extension agents and crop farmers on competencies in tillage and making of crossbars needed by farmers for soil erosion prevention and control.
2. There was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of teachers of agriculture, agricultural extension agents and
crop farmers on competencies in mulching and cover cropping needed by farmers for soil erosion prevention and control.
3. There was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of teachers of agriculture, agricultural extension agents and crop farmers on competencies in constructing channel and terracing needed by farmers for soil erosion prevention and control.
4. there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of teachers of agriculture, agricultural extension agents and crop farmers on competencies in strip cropping and construction of contour bunds needed by farmers for soil erosion prevention and control.
Scope of the Study
This study was restricted to identification of competency in soil erosion prevention and control in Enugu State. The study covered competencies needed by crop farmers in tillage, making crossbar, mulching, cover cropping, channeling, terracing, making of contour bund and strip cropping for soil erosion prevention and control in the state. It also covered competency improvement needs of crop farmers in tillage and making crossbars, cover cropping and mulching, terracing and channeling, strip cropping and making of contour bunds. The instrument for data collection was restricted to the questionnaire while the respondents were restricted to teachers of agriculture, agricultural extension agents and crop farmers in Enugu State.
This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research
COMPETENCY IMPROVEMENT NEEDS OF CROP FARMERS IN SOIL EROSION MANAGEMENT IN ENUGU STATE
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