Impact of sustainable soil management techniques on farm output of arable crop farmers in Imo State, NIGERIA

Farm output of farmers can be increased if farmers can be engaged in the use of sustainable soil practices that improve soil fertility. Hence, this study assessed the impact of sustainable soil management techniques on farm output of arable crop farmers in Imo State, Nigeria. 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. The socio-economic features of the farmers reveals a mean age of 53 years, 6 persons per household, 6 years educational attainment, 17 years farming experience and 1.0 hectare of land. The Table reveals that the major source of farmland for farm households in the area was inheritance which accounted for 95.0 percent. Cassava production dominated the roots and tuber crops with more than 97 percent of the farmers engaging in its production. The PSM and IPSW had values of 51353.76kg/ha and 49561.02kg/ha while the LATE estimates by WALD and IV had values of 55346.88kg/ha and 71036.01kg/ha. Hence, appropriate agric-policies should be channeled towards encouraging the farmers to adopting sustainable soil management techniques for effective food output and production.