Soil Management and Fertilizer Use Practices in Smallholder Plantain Production Systems

The depletion of soil nutrients and organic matter as accentuated by the non-adoption of appropriate soil management practices is one cause of the yield decline that compels farmers to abandon plantain orchards after two to three production cycles. Information on soil management and fertilizer use practices in plantain production systems was collected through questionnaire from 316 farmers, selected at five each from two major plantain-growing towns in the local government areas of Ekiti and Ondo States. The respondents were mainly males, 40-60 years old, married and fairly literate smallholders who intercropped False Horn and True Horn plantain cultivars with arable and tree crops. Few farmers (0.64%) identified poor soil fertility as a cause of orchard decline but 33.2% shifted from farms cultivated for five years and allowed the attendant fallows. Mulching was practiced by 45.9% of respondents and involved the use of sawdust while 35.8 and 47.2% applied fertilizer and manure to plantain respectively. Urea and NPK were the main products applied once or twice annually. Non-availability, high prices of the products and lack of nearby sales outlets affected fertilizer use. There is the need to strengthen the agricultural extension services in order to increase adoption of improved soil management practices, drive the demand for and influence access to fertilizers whose use would expand plantain output.