Mapping and Analysis of Agricultural Systems in a Part of The Lower River Benue Basin, Nigeria

Abstract

The present recession of the Lower River Benue has led to some adverse ecological changes and the decline of agricultural production in the face of rapid population growth in the area. The solution to the problem certainly requires a detailed agricultural land use analysis. The existing agricultural systems in the Lower River Benue Basin were identified and analyzed in order to determine their characteristics and spatial trends as a basis for conscious agricultural planning and intensification in the area. This was achieved through the integration of the conventional and space-based technologies. The methods adopted in the study included administration of 250 copies of a questionnaire on the farmers, rapid rural appraisal, field survey and field measurements as well as laboratory analysis of the satellite and collateral datasets using appropriate GIS software packages which include: ILWIS 3.3, ArcView 3.2, ArcGIS 9.1, Erdas Imagine 8.7 together with Microsoft Office packages for thesis preparation and presentation. Statistical techniques such as measures of central tendencies and correlations were employed to determine the level of dispersion and establish relationships between the variables of the prevailing agricultural systems and the farming community. The study identified and analyzed the spatial distribution of the following agricultural systems: irrigated, lowland rice-based, upland cereal and tuber-based, plantation or tree crop, agroforestry-based as well as fishing and livestock in the LRBB at varying scales with upland cereal and tuber based system dominating with an area coverage of 64.11%. It was found that 96.8% of the farmers practise mixed cropping together with crop rotation and mono cropping. Analysis of the socio-economic characteristics of farmers revealed that 56.8% constitute the active farming population with 12 persons per household; 73.2% attained at least secondary education, and 77.1% of the male respondents have a wife each. Assessment of each of the agricultural systems led to basin characterization and generation of physiographic units, slope pattern, Digital Elevation Models, XXI 3D visualization, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index as well as land cover classification and mapping. It is concluded that adequate information on agricultural land use, using spacebased techniques, permits conscious agricultural planning and intensification of production with the view of addressing issues of food security, unemployment and poverty reduction in the Lower River Benue Basin.