A Survey Of Indigenous Farming Systems And Practices In Ebonyi State Nigeria: In Search Of Sustainable Plant Disease Management Options.

Abstract

In Nigeria, the drive to boost food security and to fight off insect pests and diseases with other yield limiting factors is gradually introducing unhealthy production risks in agriculture. A cursory survey of the various indigenous farming systems and practices were carried out using a random sampling method of the thirteen local government areas of the state. The popular farming system comprise of Mixed Cropping/Intercropping or combination of crops in mixed cultivation with the dominance of root crops like cassava, yam and cocoyam then maize and vegetables in cycles of land rotations. Traditional farm practices adopted in Ebonyi State include the use of organic matter soil amendment, fallowing, use of simple farm tools, raising of large and high heaps of soil mounds, bush burning, legume cropping etc. The common feature of this system is the production of several species and varieties of crop plants in spatio-temporal discontinuity thus creating natural biological cycles and control with regard to host-pathogen interactions. This system of farming and practices are adjudged sustainable being cheap, efficient, providing high degree of stable and reliable yields. Adequate evaluation and research into this indigenous knowledge of agricultural production in Ebonyi State is therefore recommended so as to be incorporated into modern agriculture.