Adopted Engineering and Agronomic Conservation Measures of Agricultural Land Use in Lafia L.G.A. Nasarawa State of Nigeria

The study examined agricultural land use and adopted conservation measures in Lafia local government Area of Nasarawa state. The data were collected by oral interview and structured questionnaire. Two hundred farmers were randomly selected across the local government area. The field survey revealed that 42% of the farmers are at the range of 35-45 years of age. 60% of the farmers within the study area don’t practice irrigation farming. The results also showed that 58% of the farmers have attended post primary school. 66% of the land area is relatively flat thereby leading to moderate erosion. 88% of the farmers used local methods of cultivation leading to small area (1-4ha) of land being cultivated per a farmer. 44% of the farmers experienced sheet erosion on their farm lands leading to 40% of low yield. 22% of the farmers practiced most of the conservation practices on the land to minimize soil degradation and nutrient restoration. 40% of farmers surveyed encountered problem of high cost of labour and 46% of them obtained loan from the agricultural bank to solve some of the problems encountered. It is therefore recommended among other things that agricultural land use should be studied and conservation methods should be adopted to increase agricultural production in the study area.