Determination of the uses of fallow and on-farm trees/shrubs and farm practices in Imo State, Nigeria. Thesis (MSc): University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Research was undertaken to determine the prevailing farming systems in the Imo State of Nigeria with emphasis on the place and role of trees and shrubs in the systems. Data were generated through formal and key informant surveys. The results show that small scale farms constitute majority of farm holdings in the study area. It is also shown that there are three components of the traditional farming systems namely compound farming, near field and far field farming. In the study it was revealed that tree planting and protection is a dominant feature of the traditional farming system and that deliberate tree planting takes place more in the compound farms than in the other types. The study on the abundance of trees/shrubs on fallow and farm lands as well as on farmers' species preferences show that economic and environmental consideration were the major factors influencing the choice of species planted and protected. It is recommended that location specific agroforestry technology be developed for this area building on the farmers' traditional knowledge about the trees and their roles in farming systems.