Abstract
The explanation of the associations and variations in geographic location, pedology and geologic formations for effective policy framework towards sustainability food production in Southeast Nigeria is the central objective of this study. The study area was stratified into five states. Data on textural classes were systematically collected from three states and at eight sampled points using commerce, wetland and non-wet land agricultural areas as indices and analyzed using laboratory and geo-spatial tools. The results indicated that pedologic characteristics of the study area vary with geographic spaces but particle size was dominated by sandy loam. The multivariate analysis of variance, tests of variations, homogeneity, and overlapping variances revealed that variations among geographic space and geologic formations have significant effect on the distribution of pedologic characteristics in the Southeast. Also, the spatial variabilities of geographic location, geology, and pedology in the southeast suggest dynamics in land capability class for crop yields which constitute major issue to agricultural development and the corresponding food security. The dominance of sandy loam soil is an indicator of the prevalence of class A and class B land (soils) while qualitative interview affirmed that most farmers still relied on the natural fertility of the soil for crop production, but the quality and quantity of their produced were often hampered by traditional/small size holdings. To sustain food security for the teeming population, this study recommended for massive evaluation of physicochemical and bio-geochemical properties of soil in the Southeast to provide basis for farmers’ choice of crops; creation of more awareness and education of farmers on the type of crops that can yield better under certain pedo-geographic and geologic formations.
Highlights
IntroductionThe quest for sustainability in agriculture to foster food security and national development has attracted the attention of various researchers in the 21st century
The results show that the R squared of the model associated with geologic formations yields a perfect positive coefficient of 1.000 that explains 100 percent of the total variance
The role of agriculture in food security and national development had long been emphasized in Abumere [9] but often constraint by some stringent human and natural factors
Summary
The quest for sustainability in agriculture to foster food security and national development has attracted the attention of various researchers in the 21st century. It is commonly agreed among geographers, land use and environmental resource planners that variations exist in the aerial distributions of distinct geographic phenomena in time and space. The dominance of agricultural activities as accelerated by the availability of expanse of underutilized or misused land (soil) have been identified as one of the most outstanding attributes of the developing economies like Nigeria [1]. The scenarios for the state of agricultural development and food security differ considerably among people in localities, and countries across the globe. Variations in pedology (soil type), geology, and climate of a given geographic space could have significant influence on
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