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.