Economic Potential of Taungya Farming System in Edo State, Nigeria

The study examined the economic potential of taungya system in Edo state, using of data obtained from both primary and secondary sources with the aid of well structured questionnaires administered to 230 respondents in eight the Local Government Areas practicing taungya farming in government reserved forests. The research was based on sampling intensities of 30, 20 and 5% for farmers’ population of below 100, between 100 and 200 and over 200 respectively, to elicit information on socioeconomic issues. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistic of frequency and percentages and inferential statistic using “t” test and ANOVA. The results showed that 43.3% of the respondents affirmed that it was easy to obtain fuelwood, while 41.1% of them believed that was very easy to obtain fuelwood in the taungya farm system. Results showed that there was significant difference (P<0.05) among the income generated from benefits like food, fuelwood, fruits/vegetable/roots, bushmeat, medicinal plants. The results also revealed that the revenues government generated from allocation of taungya plots differed significantly among revenues types and (P<.05) various periods considered. Retention fees and April 2009 to date dominated the types of revenues and period respectively. It is expedient to enhance the economic potential of taungya so as to convert all the possible potentials to reality. This is done by following values premises for the adoption of taungya system in the real sense of it in most of the forest estates in the state.