Analysis of the relationship between the Socio-Economic Characteristics of Rice Farmers and Soil Management Practices in Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract— The study examined the analysis of the relationship between the Socio-Economic Characteristics of Rice Farmers and Soil Management Practices in Abuja. The study was conducted in rural communities in Abuja, Nigeria. Two objectives guided the study. The study adopted descriptive and logistic regression research design. Multistage sampling technique was employed to select the farming communities for the study. Twelve (12) agricultural wards (Chuwkuku, Gaube, Bamushin, kotunku, Pai, Dafa, Bako, Dobi, Paso, Chibiri, Gadabiu and Paikon) were randomly selected giving a total of thirty-six (36) agricultural wards. Five blocks were randomly picked from each of the agricultural wards making the total of 180. Lastly two (2) circles were randomly selected from each of the blocks resulting to three hundred and sixty (360) respondents who were randomly selected from the chosen circles. The results show that 58.06% of the respondents were male while 36.13% of the respondents were between the ages of 30 and 39years. Also, 47.74% of them were married with 40% of the respondents having an average of 5 people in their households. 61.94 had at most a national certificate of education (NCE). Majority (44.84) of the respondent had a farm size of between half a hectare and two hectares. The study recommended that manual tillage should be mostly carried out by rice farmer to improve the level of production and also soil rotation should be practiced where soil is much available to reduce the level of degradation