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Land resources of
central Nigeria
Agricultural
development
possibilities
Volume 5B
Kaduna Plains
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Land resources of
central Nigeria
Agricultural development
possibilities
Volume 5 B
The Kaduna Plains
ISSN 0305 - 6554
ISBN 0 902409 89 1
9-3^2)
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Land Resources Development Centre
Land resources of
central Nigeria
Agricultural development
possibilities
Volume 5B The Kaduna Plains
Land Resources Development Centre
Central Nigeria Project Team
(ed. J R D Wall)
(J G Bennett, A Blair Rains, P N Gosden, W J Howard, A A Hutcheon,
W B Kerr, J E Mansfield, L J Rackham, R Rose Innes)
Land Resource Study 29
Land Resources Development Centre, Ministry of Overseas Development,
Tolworth Tower, Surbiton, Surrey, England KT6 7DY
1979

LAND RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT CENTRE*
The Land Resources Development Centre of the Ministry of Overseas Development
assists developing countries in mapping, investigating and assessing land
resources, and makes recommendations on the use of these resources for the
development of agriculture, livestock husbandry and forestry; it also gives
advice on related subjects to overseas governments and organisations, makes
scientific personnel available for appointment abroad and provides lectures
and training courses in the basic techniques of resource appraisal and
development.
The Centre works in close cooperation with government departments, research
institutes, universities and international organisations concerned with land
resources assessment and development planning.
*The name of the former Land Resources Division was changed to Land Resources Development Centre in
June 1978.
CENTRE DE DÉVELOPPEMENT DES RESSOURCES DE LA TERRE*
Le Centre de Developpement des Ressources de la Terre (l'un des organismes
scientifiques du Ministère britannique de Developpement Outremer) apporte
son aide aux pays en voie de developpement en matière de cartographie,
recherche et evaluation des ressources de la terre et fournit des recommandations
quant a 1'exploitation de ces ressources pour le developpement de 1'agriculture,
l'elevage et la sylviculture. Le Centre conseille egalement, dans les
domaines annexes, gouvernments et organismes outremer, se charge de trouver
du personnel scientifique pour les postes a pourvoir a l'etranger et organise
des conferences et des stages de formation sur les techniques de base
relatives a 1'evaluation et la mise en valeur des ressources.
Le Centre travaille en etroite cooperation avec services gouvernementaux,
instituts de recherche, universites et organismes internationaux s'occupant
d'evaluation des ressources de la terre et dt- plans de developpement.
•L'ancienne Division des Ressources de la Terre (Land Resources Division) a éto renoinmee Centre de
Developpement des Ressources de la Terre (Land Resources !>eve] i.pmcnl. Con' I-C-^IMI Juin 1778,
IV

List of volumes
Title: land resources of central Nigeria: agricultural development possibil­
ities. LRDC Central Nigeria Project Team (Eds I D Hill and J R D Wall)
Volume 1A The Bauchi Plains, Executive Summary
Volume 1B The Bauchi Plains
Volume 2A The Jos Plateau, Executive Summary
Volume 2B The Jos Plateau
Volume 3A The Jema'a Platform, Executive Summary
Volume 3B The Jema'a Platform
Volume 4A The Benue Valley, Executive Summary
Volume 4B The Benue Valley
Volume 5A The Kaduna Plains, Executive Summary
Volume 5B Th e Kaduna Plains
Volume 6A. The Kano Plains, Executive Summary
Volume 6B The Kano Plains
Volume 7 An atlas of resource maps
v

NOTICE TO READERS
This published report is derived from a draft issued to the Nigerian
Federal and State Authorities in 1977.
Readers concerned primarily with administrative or policy decisions in
relation to agricultural development will find a summary of the various
types of agricultural development considered and where each can be located
in the Kaduna Plains in Volume 5A of this report, together with a precis.
The attention of readers requiring more detailed discussions is drawn
to the section on the use of the report in Part 1 (p.5) of this volume.
Technical, supporting information can be found in the reports listed on
p. xiii.
Throughout this report the word "agriculture" has been used in a broad
sense to include crop production, range management and forestry.
vi

Contents
LIST OF TEXT MAPS ix
LIST OF SEPARATE MAPS ix
ABSTRACT AND KEYWORDS xi
LIST OF LRDC REPORTS ON THE KADUNA PLAINS xiii
PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1
Preface 1
Summary 2
Objectives 3
Methods 3
Fieldwork and team composition 4
Reporting 5
Use of the report 5
Crops considered 7
Administrative units 8
Acknowledgements 8
PART 2 ASPECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT 9
Location 9
Climate 9
Relief and drainage 12
Geology 13
Landforms 14
Soils - Soil classification 16
Soil genesis 16
Soil patterns 17
Soil fertility 19
Vegetation 20
Present land use - Density of cultivation 22
Distribution of cultivation 24
Present farming systems 24
Livestock 25
Agricultural infrastructure 26
vu

Rangeland
Forestry
PART 3 ENVIRONMENTAL LIMITATIONS TO DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Climatic factors in relation to crop growth
Land systems with six crop options
Land systems with five crop options
Land systems with four crop options
Land systems with three crop options
Land systems with two crop options
Land systems with one crop option
Land systems with moderate or severe limitation» to
arable crops
Land systems unsuitable for arable crops
PART 4 AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT POSSIBILITIES
Types of development
Assessment of areas for agricultural development
Integrated agricultural development projects
Large mechanised farms
Improvement of traditional grazing
Establishment of grazing reserves
Establishment of cattle ranches and dairy farms
Forestry development for production of timber
Forestry development for production of firewood and poles
Establishment of forest reserves for protection against
erosion
Research needs
Constraints to development
PART 5 REFERENCES 127
APPENDIX 1 INTERPRETATION OF SOIL DATA Al.
APPENDIX 2 ASSESSMENT OF EROSION HAZARD A5
APPENDIX 3 MINIMUM SIZE OF ECONOMIC FARM UNIT A17
APPENDIX 4 EVALUATION OF THE GROWTH POTENTIAL OF FOREST RESERVES A21
viii
28
31
35
35
37
37
44
51
56
62
67
73
78
79
79
79
84
92
96
99
102
107
112
120
122
124

TEXT MAPS
following
page
5.1 Project area 1
5.2 Location of the Kaduna Plains 2
5.3 Administrative boundaries post-1976 6
5.4 Isohyets and length of rainy period lO
5.5 Thiesson polygons and rainfall 10
5.6 Relief 14
5.7 Drainage basins 14
5.8 Physiographic units 14
5.9 Vegetation 20
5.10 Areas suitable for integrated agricultural
development projects 84
5.11 Areas suitable for large mechanised farms 94
5.12 Areas suitable for improvement of
traditional grazing 98
5.13 Areas suitable for establishment of
grazing reserves lOO
5.14 Areas suitable for cattle ranches or dairy
farms 106
5.15 Forest reserves for production of timber 110
5.16 Forest reserves f or production of firewood
and poles 118
5.17 Areas requiring reservation or strict conservation 122
SEPARATE MAPS (in separate map folder)
Land systems - the Kaduna Plains (Sheets a and b)
Present land use - the Kaduna Plains (Sheets a and b)
Crop options based on environmental limitations -
the Kaduna Plains (Sheets a and b)
Agricultural development possibilities - the
Kaduna Plains (Sheet a and b)
ix

MICROFICHES (inside back cover)
BENNETT J G, BLAIR RAINS A, HUTCHEON A A, KERR W B, LAWTON R M,
MANSFIELD J E, RACKHAM L J & ROSE INNES R (1978) Land resources of central
Nigeria. Environmental aspects of the Kaduna Plains. Volume 1, Landforms
and soils. Volume.2, Climate and vegetation. Volume 3, Land systems.
Land Resource Report 19.

Abstract and keywords
ABSTRACT
2
The Kaduna Plains area (39 850 km ) of the LRDC Central Nigeria Project is
briefly described in terms of it's climate, landform, geology, soils and
natural vegetation. Present land use is described in relation to the
intensity and distribution of cultivation, present farming systems, cattle
production and forestry activities. This information is used to identify
areas in which the environmental limitations are at a minimum for the
growth of maize, millet CPennisetum typhoides), sorghum, groundnuts, yams,
rainfed rice and cotton. Areas suitable for different types of
agricultural development, including livestock and forestry, have been
identified.
Microfiches of reports supplying additional data on the area are appended.
RESUMÉ
La region de Kaduna Plains qui fait partie de l'aire etudiee par le Projet
Nigeria da Centre est brievement decrite en termes de climat, modele',
geologie, sols et vegetation naturelle. On decrit 1'utilisation de la
terre par rapport a l'intensite et la distribution des cultures, les
systemes de cultivation, 1 elevage du betail et la sylviculture. Par
moyen de cette information, on distingue les aires ou les limitations imposees
par le milieu sont minimales en e'gard de la cultivation du mais, du millet
(Pennisetum typhoides) du sorgho, des arachides, de l'igname, du riz de
montagne et du coton. Les aires qui conviennent aux divers types de la mise
en valeur agricole, incius 1'elevage de bétail et la syliviculture, sont signalers.
Des microfiches fournissent des donnés additionelles sur la region.
DESCRIPTORS FOR COORDINATE INDEXING
Nigeria, Kaduna, climate, landform, soils, present land use, farming
systems, livestock, forestry, agricultural development, maize, millet,
sorghum, groundnuts, yams, rice, cotton.
xi

List of LRDC reports on the Kaduna Plains
A full list is given below of the reports on the Kaduna Plains issued by the
Land Resources Development Centre. They contain information for the
specialist. They are obtainable only with the agreement of the Nigerian
Government.
BAWDEN M G & RACKHAM L J (1969) The physiography of the basement land
province: interim report on the land resources of central Nigeria.
Miscellaneous Report 75»
BENNETT J G, BLAIR RAINS A, HUTCHEON A A, KERR W B, LAWTON R M,
MANSFIELD J E, RACKHAM L J & ROSE INNES R(1978) Land resources of central
Nigeria. Environmental aspects of the Kaduna Plains. Volume 1, Landforms
and soils. Volume 2, Climate and vegetation. Volume 3» Land systems.
Land Resource Report 19«
BLAIR RAINS A (1975) Livestock production in the Central Nigeria Project
area. Miscellaneous Report 198.
BLAIR RAINS A (1977) Land resources of central Nigeria. Rangeland and
livestock production. Land Resource Report 18.
GOSDEN P N (1978) Land resources of central Nigeria. Farming systems.
Land Resource Report 17»
HOWARD W J (1976) Land resources of central Nigeria. Forestry. Land
Resource Report 9«
MANSFIELD J E (in preparation) Land resources of central Nigeria. The
interpretation of environmental data in terms of limitations to crop growth
Land Resource Report 22.
POSNETT N W, REILLY P M& WHITFIELD P (1971) Nigeria. Volumes 1, 2, 3.
Land Resource Bibliography 2.
Xlll

Parti

Part 1 Introduction
PREFACE
In June, 1968, the Nigerian Government asked the British Government to
investigate the land resources of parts of what were then the six northern
States of Nigeria. The investigations have been undertaken by the Land.
Resources Development Centre of the British Government's Ministry of Overseas
2
Development. The project area covers almost 230 OOO km . Its western and
o o
eastern boundaries are marked approximately by 7 and lO longitude and it
extends from south of the Benue Valley northwards to the border with the
Niger Republic (Text Map 5.1).
The Kaduna Plains occupy some 17% of the project area and lie largely within
the newly designated Kaduna State, formerly North-Central State (Text Map
5.2).
LOCATION OF CENTRAL NIGERIA PROJECT
TEXT MAP 5.1
Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
1

SUMMARY
2
The Kaduna Plains (39 850 km ) occupy a substantial part (approximately 17%)
of the total project area. From an assessment of the environmental features
studied,it is shown that it contains large areas of land with considerable
scope for agricultural development.
The climate is markedly seasonal, yet during the 5-6 month growing period
conditions are generally satisfactory for many annual crops; also for grass
growth and for a small number of economic trees. The plains are slightly
dissected^yet there remain numerous areas of gently sloping land where
mechanised farming can be undertaken. The soils are erodible, chemically
rather poor and locally stony but in general they are freely drained, deep
and of medium to heavy texture. Floodplains occur, mainly in the northern
half of the project area.
The area is densely cultivated only near the northern and eastern borders,
around Kaduna and in small areas in the south. Elsewhere, cultivation
tends to be sparse, in particular in a large tsetse-infested belt* extending
from the north-west to centre. It is not known whether the reasons for this
belt are strictly environmental or partly historical. Present-day agricul­
ture is based on a labour-intensive, non-mechanised subsistence economy in
which sorghum, maize and yam play the most important part as both food and
cash crops. Other significant cash crops include groundnuts and cotton with
sugar cane, peppers, tobacco and ginger being locally important. Migrant
Fulani cattle utilise dry-season grazing. Current forest production is low
and northern areas in particular are climatically marginal.
In this milieu there appears to be considerable room for. extension of all
currently grown crops, especially in north-central and southern areas, the
chief initial limitations being availability of labour and machinery over
the growing period.
Similarly, there are areas where all the forms of agriculture under
consideration can be established. Such areas are indicated in the report
but it is re-emphasised here that at this reconnaissance scale of survey
*See Separate Map 2 where information on Glossina morsitans distribution
is derived from Federal Livestock Department Map TTD334A, 1975.
2

13°00'
12°00'
6*15'
7°00'
D.O.S. 3270B
7°00'
LOCATION OF THE KADUNA PLAINS TEXT MAP 5.2
7°00' 8°00'
8°00' 9°00' 10°00' lTOO'
Kilometres
25 0 25 50 75 100 125 150
I I I 1 1 1 '
_ _ __ Project boundary
Report area boundary
13°00'
12°00'
- n°oo'
10°00'
9 00
- 8 00'
9°00' 10°0 0' 1 TOO'
Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
7 00'
6°15'

all statements are generalised of necessity, both in text and on map. The
most versatile and extensive areas, i.e. those in which most forms of
development would be possible, largely occur in the southern and north-'
central parts of the Kaduna Plains.
Elimination of tsetse would extend the options for cattle husbandry in
adjacent areas in the centre and north-west to make these equally
versatile.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the project.were to investigate and describe the upland
(non-floodplain) resources with particular reference to their agricultural
development potential. More specifically, at the request of state and
federal authorities, an assessment has been made of the area's suitability
for the growth of seven annual rainfed crops - maize, millet (Pennisetum
typhoides), sorghum, yams, rice, groundnuts and cotton - together with its
rangeland and forestry potential. Agricultural development in the more
suitable areas has been considered in the context of improving and
expanding existing agriculture and establishing new large-scale, capital-
intensive schemes. Mapping the areas where the environment offers the
greatest scope for the above crops and forms of development was the final
objective.
METHODS
From a study of air photographs^ the area was divided into units with
similar landforms. Ground investigations of the soils and vegetation
within these units, linked with climatic studies, enabled areas with
the same pattern of climate, landform, soil and vegetation to be defined.
Such areas are called land systems. These land systems are
identified by numbers, are shown in Separate Maps 1-4 which
accompany this report»and are referred to whenever development possibilities
are discussed.
The environmental data for each land system were interpreted in terms of
suitability for various crops, grazing and forestry. This information,
3

taken in association with studies of present land use, was used to
identify a number of development possibilities. Details of the methods
used are contained in the reports listed on page yni. .
FIELDWORK AND TEAM COMPOSITION
Fieldwork in the Kaduna Plains started in October 1974 and continued
until January 1977. Details of the progress of fieldwork have been given
in 6 - monthly progress reports issued by the Land Resources Development
Centre to the Federal Department of Agriculture.
The project team included agriculturalists, ecologists, a forester, a
rangeland specialist, geomorphologist and soil scientists. Details of
the team composition which surveyed the Kaduna Plains are given below.
Team
Project manager
Agriculture
Ecology
Forestry
Rangeland
Geomorphology
Soil science
I D Hill
J R D Wall
J E Mansfield
P N Gosden
S Kalejaiye**
J Abah*
R Rose-Innes
R M Lawton
W J Howard
A Blair Rains
L J Rackham
A A Hutcheon
J G Bennett
W B Kerr
J Ibanga*
J Valette*
1974-75
1976-77
1974-76
1976-77
1976-77
1976
1975-76
1975
1974-76
1974-76
1974-75
1974-75
1974-75
1974-75
1975
1975
*Staff of the Institute of Agricultural Research, ABU Samaru
**Staff of the Federal Department of Agriculture

REPORTING
As the project area is so large it has been divided into six major
physiographic regions, the Bauchi Plains, the Jos Plateau, the Jema'a
Platform, the Benue Valley, the Kaduna Plains and the Kano Plains. These
physiographic regions are shown on Text Map 5.2 and 5.3 in relation to.
administrative boundaries. Each region is reported on separately.
The agricultural development possibilities in each region are discussed in
separate volumes of this Land Resource Study: the six volumes are listed
on page v. An executive summary has been prepared for each volume.
Environmental data collected during the survey for each of the major
physiographic regions are contained in a series of reports published by
this Division; those relating to the Kaduna Plains are listed on page xiii.
The list also includes reports dealing specifically with farming systems,
rangeland and forestry for the whole project area.
USE OF THE REPORT
This report will be of use to technical and planning officers responsible
for formulating plans or implementing planning decisions. In it,
environmental data have been summarised and an interpretation of these
data presented in the form of a number of development possibilities. The
development possibilities have been assessed on environmental criteria;
it is stressed that no attempt has been made to rank them in economic
terms.
Readers requiring general information about the environment should turn
to Part 2. Those requiring more detailed environmental and present land
use information in relation to development possibilities are referred to
Part 3. Part 4 deals with actual agricultural development possibilities
and, following discussions with federal and state authorities, has been
structured so that it can be used in three ways:
1. Selection of'areas for a particular type of agricultural development
or project
5

2. Selection of areas for increasing the production of a given crop
3. Selection of the types of agricultural development for particular
administrative units
The report should be used mainly in conjunction with Separate Maps 3 and 4.
Separate Maps 1 and 2 give information about the environment and present
land use and are included for reference purposes.
1. Selection of areas for a particular type of agricultural development
The various types of development are defined in Part 4 of this report and
are identified by a number. Given a decision on which type of development
is to be followed, the most suitable areas for this type of development
can be found by reference to Part 4. For example, if it has been decided
that a large mechanised farm is to be established somewhere in the Kaduna
Plains, reference to Separate Map 4 and to Table 44 on p. 95,shows that
many areas appear suitable and, for example, such farms could be established
in the Zaria Local Government area in Land Systems 418, 422, 426, 429; 445,
447, 448, 449 and 451.
2. Selection of areas for increasing the production of particular crops
Given a decision that the production of a certain crop must be increased,
the areas in which the environmental limitations are at a minimum for that
crop can be obtained from Table 42 on p. 82 and identified on Separate Map
3. For example, Table 42 shows that there are no or only minor limitations
to the growth of maize in 42 land systems in all Local Government areas.
Tabie 4 shows the number of crop options in each of these land systems;
more detailed descriptions can be obtained from Part 3. The geographical
location of these land systems is obtained from Separate Map 3.
3. Selection of the types of agricultural development within particular administrative units
The types of development that are possible in particular administrative
6

7°00'
ii°30'ir SvA 7%\
11°00'
10°30'
9°30'
/FUNTUA
fc LGA
TEXT MAP 5.3
POST-1976 ADMINISTRATIVE BOUNDARIES OF THE KADUNA PLAINS
9°00'
7°00' 7°30'
7°30'MALUMFASHI LGA 8°00' 8°30' 9°00'
_=, KÄWO
^€Ä5-\ ÄTE
/'FESERAL Ijfl-ATEAU
/ CAPITAC-^ 'STATE
TERRITORY
V
30
8°00'
ESTATE
iikAR>^A\oTwU0UN
=JMj>-^ j) BÄUCHi
^ •ƒ STATE
FTORO LGA
SAMINAKA(LGA JV 0^\ ' *"*
fV

units are discussed in Part 4 of this report. The administrative areas can
be located on Separate Map 4 and numbers and symbols indicate the types of
development for which the environmental limitations are at a minimum. For
example, if it is decided that some form of development should take place
in the north-east of Kachia Local Government area, reference to Table 41
on page 81 and to Separate Map 4 shows that the only type of agricultural
development thought to be advisable is an improvement of the existing
agriculture, possibly within an integrated rural development project.
Separate Map 3 shows that in the better parts there are either no or only
minor environmental limitations to the growth of five crops; maize, millet,
sorghum, cotton and yam. Further information about the area is obtained by
reference to Part 3 of the report in the section dealing with areas with
five crop options.
The decision as to which type of development should be undertaken or which
crops should be grown depends on economic and social factors that are out­
side the terms of reference of this project.
The report can also be used to determine the limitations to the growth of
particular crops in areas chosen for development. For example, if it is
decided that some form of development should take place in that part of
Gwarzo Local Government Area in the Kaduna Plains, reference to Separate
Map 3 shows that the area lies within Land System 450 and is considered
to have no or only minor soil limitations to the growth of four crops.
These limitations can be found by reference to the legend of Separate Map
3 or to the appropriate section of Part 3 (from page 51) .
CROPS CONSIDERED
At the request of federal and state authorities, the following crops were
considered: maize, millet, sorghum, yams, rainfed rice, groundnuts and
cotton. Rainfed rice is a special case; in this area water is probably the
most important factor in its cultivation, and water relationships will be
most favourable in floodplain areas. The largest of these areas are shown
on the accompanying maps and occur in the northern half of the project
area. Some isolated discontinuous large flood plain areas do occur in the
south but have not been mapped, because of the complex and variable nature
of the soils in the floodplain areas, more detailed investigations are
7

necessary before a realistic assessment of their potential for rice can be
made. Similarly, climatic factors limit the growth of yams in the
northern Kaduna Plains, except in floodplains. Soil limitations for this
crop are, therefore, only assessed in the south.
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS
The boundaries of the new states announced in January, 1976, have been
derived from the Federal Surveys 1:500 OOO scale map of Nigeria (1976).
Data in the report are referred to local government areas whenever
possible, the boundaries of which have been derived from the best
available published maps and are shown in Text Map 5.3. The Kaduna
Plains occupy more than half of Kaduna State. Two local government areas,
Kachia and Zaria, together account for 75% of the Kaduna Plains area.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to thank the staff of the Federal and State Ministries of
Agriculture and Natural Resources for assistance during the project.
Thanks are also due to the Director and staff of the Institute for
Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, for help and cooperation
in all stages of the survey and the staff of the International Institute
for Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, for technical advice.
8

Part 2

Part 2 Aspects of the environment
The information presented here is summarised from reports listed on
P'xiii, which contain detailed information and supporting bibliographies.
LOCATION
Text Map 5.2 shows the area referred to here as the Kaduna Plains. It
occupies some 39 850 km 2 , within longitudes 7° E and 9° 10' E and
latitudes 9° 5' N and 11° 30' N. From Text Map 5.3 the Plains can be
seen to lie almost entirely within Kaduna State, incorporating only small
parts of Plateau, Kano and Niger States and the Federal Capital Territory.
Forming its boundaries in the south and east are the Kaduna Plains
Dissected Zone*, and the Jos Plateau escarpment; in the north and
east the boundary lies along the watershed between the Chad and Niger
drainage systems, while the Sarkin Pawa Dissected Zone forms or lies just
outside the entire western border. It comprises an area of lightly
dissected plains and low hills intermediate in height between the Jos
Plateau in the east and the Niger Valley and Jema'a Platform to the west
and south respectively.
CLIMATE
Full synoptic data are only available for Samaru and Kaduna. This is
published in the Agrometeorological Bulletin by the Nigerian Meteorological
Department. Rainfall records for several other towns in the area are also
available from this source but most are of short term only.
As a general statement it can be said that, in spite of a long, severe
dry season in the Kaduna Plains when vegetative growth decreases to a
minimum, the growing period within the rainy season is sufficiently wet and
receives enough radiation for a wide range of crops. Most suitable are
those of moderate to high photosynthetic capacity, principally hot-season
crops, able to mature within the 5-6 month growing season (Blair Rains
et al., 1977)
*These physiographic regions are defined and described in Land Resource
Report 19, Volume 1 (Bennett et al., 1977)
9

Rainfall
Although the mean annual rainfall over the Kaduna Plains ranges between
1 200 mm in the north to 1 700 mm in the south-east (Text Maps 5.4 and
5.5) the monthly distribution pattern is the same throughout the area.
The long dry season is between October/November and March/April, but it
may be punctuated particularly in the south by sporadic showers. It
ends when warm, relatively moist, south-westerly winds begin to penetrate
the area in early to late March. There is a rapid build-up of rainfall
from this period which peaks in late August-September after which there
is a rapid fall-off through October.
Proximity to hilly zonesgives orographic lift to rain-bearing winds. This
for example explains the higher precipitation over Abuja, Kafanchan and
Zonkwa, although this must be seen in the context of a gradual regional
decrease of rainfall from the forested south of Nigeria to the dry
savanna of the extreme north.
Kowal and Knabe (1972) have analysed rainfall data over northern Nigeria
to produce Thiessen polygons. These are constructed around synoptic
climatic stations and represent areas within which climatic data have been
statistically averaged. The polygons covering the Kaduna Plains are shown
on Text Map 5.5 and on Separate Map 3. Variations within the polygons
occur, but as all the climatic data needed to quantify these variations
are not available, zones of natural vegetation are taken as indicators
of conditions that are wetter or drier than the average defined for a
given polygon.
For each polygon Kowal and Knabe (1972) have calculated a rainy period*,
which is taken to be the safe growing period for crop. The length of the
rainy period for the polygons in the Kaduna Plains is shown in Table 1.
This has been calculated using data grouped into lO-day periods, so
that the actual length of the rainy period could be as much as 18 days shorter
than shown. The dates for the start and end of the rains are also shown in
*Defined by Kowal and Knabe (op. cit.) as the number of decades (10-day
periods) between the start of rains (first decade with rainfall greater
than 2.5 cm and with two subsequent decades of precipitation greater than
half, evapotranspiration) and the end of the rains (last decade in rainy
season with more than 1.25 cm rainfall and evapotranspiration in previous
decade not less than precipitation).
. lO

11°00'
10°30'
10°00'
TEXT MAP 5.4
ISOYHET MAP SHOWING MEAN ANNUAL RAINFALL AND LENGTH OF RAINY PERIOD
9° 30'
9°00'
7°00' 7°30' 8°00' 8°30' 9°00'
7°30' 8°00' 8°30' 9°00'
30
L_
Kilometres „
0 30
J , l_
1:1,500,000
60
_l
Length of the rainy period in days
Mean annual rainfall in mm
Source: Agroclimatological Atlas of the Northern States
of Nigeria (KOWAL and KNABE 1972)
• D.O.S. 3270D Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
11°30'
— 11"00'
10°30'
10°00"
9°00'

TEXT MAP 5.5
POLYGONS SHOWING MEAN TEMPERATURE. POTENTIAL EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
AND RAINFALL DISTRIBUTION
7°00' 9°00'
11°30'
11"00'
10°30'
10°00'
innli|iiiii|ii|ii|ii|ii|ii|ii|i
J'F'M'A'M'J'J'A'S'O'N'D
J 1 -! ETp
-_^_ 0.5 ETp
•& Local government headquarters
o Town
o Village
* Length of rainy period (growing season)
Source: Agroclimatological Atlas of the Northern
States of Nigeria (KOWAL and KNABE 1972)
•D.O.S. 3270E Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
11°30'
— 10°30'
10°00'
9°30'
9°00'

Table 1. During the rainy period, crops are unlikely to suffer moisture
stress long enough to affect yield significantly, so it can be considered
as the safe growing period.
TABLE 1 The length of the rainy period, and the date of its start and
Polygon
Samaru
Kaduna
Jos
Minna
finish in polygons covering the Kaduna Plains (Kowal and
Knabe, 1972)
Length (days)
150
180
190
190
Rainy period
Starting
date*
May 11-20
April 21-30
April 11-20
April 21-30
Finishing
Date/
Oct 1-10
Oct 11-20
Oct 11-20
Oct 21-31
*First 10-day period in which rainfall, P, exceeds 25 mm followed by
two lO-day periods in which P exceeds 0.5 Et (evapotranspiration)
/Last 10-day period in which P exceeds 12.5 mm and is greater than
Et in previous 10-day period
Temperature
The range of daily maximum and minimum temperatures during the rainy
period in each of the polygons covering the Kaduna Plains is given in
Table 2.
TABLE 2 Range of maximum and minimum daily temperatures during the
Polygon
Samaru
Kaduna
Jos
Minna
rainy period in polygons covering the Kaduna Plains
Temperature range, °C
Maximum Minimum
27.3-34.0
27.2-33.8
23.5-30.9
28.1-34.7
18.6-21.6
18.8-22.3
16.6-18.5
21.2-24.4
11

The highest temperatures occur in March and April just before the rainy
season. At Kaduna the mean monthly temperature reaches 28.O C in
March and drops to 2 3.2 C in December. The effect of the low temperatures
in the early part of the year is intensified by the very low humidities
which accompany the strong harmattan winds.
Global radiation and hours of sunshine
The range of mean daily global radiation and the range in mean actual hours
of sunshine during the rainy period are given in Table 3 for the polygons
covering the Kaduna Plains. In Samaru the mean actual sunshine is less
than 5 hours daily only in the last lO-day period in August, while in
Kaduna it is less than 5 hours daily during all of August.
TABLE 3 Range of mean daily global radiation and mean actual hours of
Polygons
sunshine, in 10-day periods, during the rainy period for
polygons covering the Kaduna Plains
Mean daily global
radiation cal/cm 2 /day
Rang« a
Mean daily actual
sunshine hours
Samaru 345-504 4.75-9.45
Kaduna 319-466 4.09-8.27
Jos 301-4 34 3.71-7.20
Minna 292-483 3.43-8.67
RELIEF AND DRAINAGE
The Kaduna Plains comprise extensive tracts of almost level to gently
undulating lightly dissected land, broken in places by groups of rocky
hills and inselbergs. The western and southern margins are more
strongly dissected and form a step or zone separating them from
adjacent, lower regions.
12

The general relief features can be seen on Text Map 5.6. Much of the area
lies between 600 and 800 m with scattered hills rising 50-200 m above the
surrounding land. The highest and most extensive massifs occur in the
north-west where the Rishi Hills attain almost 1 600 m. On the plains the
general height difference between valleys and adjacent crestal areas is
only 20-40 m. Typical cross-sections consist of (a) a broad crestal area
with scattered ironpan cappings; (b) long, planar, middle slopes of less
than3° and (c) short, steepened lower slopes showing signs of
accelerated erosion.
The drainage net (Text Map 5.7) is predominantly tributary to the Niger
via the Kaduna and Gurara Rivers. Small areas in the south are drained
by Benue River tributaries.
Downcutting by rivers is most active in the southern and western margins of
the Kaduna Plains, although gullying by ephemeral streams occurs in many
small areas throughout, notably in the densely cultivated Zaria region.
The most extensive floodplains are associated with the Kaduna River
(Separate Map 4)j in the south they are mostly too narrow to be shown on
small-scale maps, or are absent.
GEOLOGY
The entire area is underlain by a complex of igneous and metamorphic
rocks of mainly Jurassic to Precambrian age. Younger (Quaternary) lavas
overlie this basement in south-eastern parts. The only recent sediments
are various colluvial andalluvial deposits, and wind-blown material
(drift) which can be traced southwards approximately as far as Kaduna.
Laterite cappings are evident over all rock types; their age ranges
from late-Tertiary to Pleistocene.
The Basement Complex rocks are essentially granites, gneisses, migmatites,
schists and quartzites. The quartzites commonly occur as linear ridges,
whilst the granites and gneisses occur as inselbergs and undifferentiated
plains. It is significant to soil development that these rocks are rich in
quartz and low in divalent cations. By contrast the lavas found in the south­
east near Kagoro and Kaura are basaltic and rich in ferro-magnesian minerals.
13

Laterite caps are associated closely with crestal sites throughout the
Kaduna Plains, particularly in the north. They are believed to be
residual from a more extensive and level late-Tertiary, lateritized surface
that has since been gradually eaten into by the present river systems.
Erosion of the margins of the caps or mesas has led to redistribution of
ironpan fragments downslope and, locally, in their recementation into
detrital, footslope laterite.
Of the younger sediments the floodplain deposits are most varied, both
chemically and physically. The wind-blown deposit in this area is not easily
identified except in the northern parts where it is identifiable by the silt
content.
LANDFORMS
The Kaduna Plains have been divided into 55 land systems, areas having a
distinctive environment most readily identified by their landform*. The
land systems can be grouped into physiographic units having a common
geomorphological history, e.g. forming a dissected zone, or having similar
land forms, e.g. rocky hills. Ten such units are recognised (Text Map 5.8)
which can be further grouped, purely for convenience of description
into the following:
Physiographic Unit i. Hills on Younger Granite
These consist entirely of massive rocky hills associated with granite ring
complexes. They rise steeply above surrounding plains by heights of
50-200 m in general and are largely bare rock.
Physiographic Units ii-iii. Dissected zones on Basement Complex
These areas form discrete zones between plains at different altitudes. They
are characterised by undulating plains, low rocky hills and dissected
*For full definition of land systems see Land Resource Report 19, Vol.3
(Bennett et al, 1977)
14

7°00' 7°30'
11°30'
11°00'
10°30'
10°00'
9°30'
9°00'
7°00' 7°30'
30
KADUNA PLAINS-RELIEF
8°00' 8°30' 9°00'
8°00'
Kilometres
0 30
J l_
1:1,500,000
TEXT MAP 5.6
Report area boundary •& Local government headquarters
Major road o Town
Minor road or track
Railway
o Village
I I J 9°00'
8°30'
9°00'
60
Vertical interval 150 metres
— Contours
' —— Formlines
• D.O.S. 3270F Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978

7°00'
11°30'
11°00'
10°30'
9°30'
9°00'
7°00' 7°30'
KADUNA PLAINS-DRAINAGE BASINS
7°30' 8°00' 8°30' 9°00'
30
V. BENUE
8°00'
Kilometres
0 30
J L_
1:1,500,000
Report area boundary
— Major road
— Minor road or track
*= Railway
L
°30'
60
TEXT MAP 5.7
•jj- Local government headquarters
o Town
o Village
_L
9°00'
Niger, Benue and Chad watersheds
Other major watershed
• ^ Other watershed
•D.O.S. 3270G Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
111°30'
11°00'
10°30'
9°30'
9°00'

KADUNA PLAINS-PHYSIOGRAPHIC UNITS
TEXT MAP 5.8
7°00'
7°30' 8°00' 8°30' 9°00'
11°30' — T
11°00' s-
10°30' -z.
10°00'
9°30' -
>^r:
\>Kafin Koroj
TUBO\ PLAINS
(iv)
/KADUh
• \
Kajum
DINYA PLAINS
(vii)
,r8/-
X x X x
\
(v)
^
i.Soba
['?£i>\ GALMA PLAINS)
(ix) x
X X X X x * / x X
\X X X X X x(
x x X
J X X
X X X X X
X X X X X ^J x X^Jj'y^X X£
X X X
*Ka^~^"^ / ^—7TSN°1 1
X X X X ( ) I C^/ y^/X /Vp O o o\V
ÄW*C>J ^-^^^M» 4*-' >
Kilometres
0 30
J L_
1:1,500,000
1/"
angon
f l ^ w ^ l / ó Y . A KAFANCHAN PIEDMONT
—>-" - ivinioty ^ ^ (VIII)
Report area boundary
Major road
Minor road or track
Railway
:':':•: Hills on Younger Granite
Dissected zones on Basement Complex
Plains on Basement Complex
•Ü Local government headquarters
o Town
o Village
9°00'
I Plains on Basement Complex with unconsolidated deposits
Plains with hills on Basement Complex
Plains on Newer Basalt
JyilJ— Physiographic Unit Boundary and number
Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
— 11°00'
10°30'
10°00'
- 9°30'

terrain, in which the dominant slopes are less than 5 and there are
few ironpan cappings.
Physiographic Units iv-vii. Plains on Basement Complex
These plains occupy some 63% of the study area and extend for considerable
distances as gently undulating land broken by scattered inselbergs and
shallow valleys. Ironpan cappings on crestal areas are locally common,
especially in the Tubo Plains. Lower slopes are generally steepest, in the
order of 5-8°, and on these there are usually signs of surface wash and
incipient gullying.
Physiographic Unit viii. Plains on Basement Complex with unconsolidated deposits
This rather small area comprises undulating plains at the foot of the Jos
Plateau escarpment where streams draining off the Plateau have built up
extensive alluvial fans. They are now undergoing erosion and some areas
show signs of severe gullying. Ironpan cappings and rock outcrops are
uncommon.
Physiographic Unit ix. Plains with hills on Basement Complex
Undulating plains containing common rocky inselbergs form this complex unit.
Laterite cappings occur in many places while sheet and gully erosion may be
found on steepened lower slopes throughout the unit.
Physiographic Unit x. Plains on Newer Basalt
The five lava flows that make up this unit lie in the south-eastern Kaduna
Plains, adjacent to the Jos Plateau. They form almost level plains which are
being actively eroded. Surface boulders are more common than rock outcrops.
Gullying is localised.
15

The landforms, therefore, being predominantly undulating, lightly dissected
plains of low relief, lend themselves to a variety of development. Dominant
slopes in many areas are less than the critical 3% above which large-scale
mechanised farming is uneconomical. It is stressed, however, that streams
and rivers in many places have produced steep lower slopes which exceed
this limit and which consequently fragment otherwise extensive areas of,
almost level land. On the plains rocky areas are mostly confined to
inselbergs. Higher rocky massifs are suitable only for conservation
purposes, but these occupy only 2% of the total area.
SOILS
The soils have been studied systematically at reconnaissance level and
estimates made of the main soil series in each major land system. An
average density of one described pit/30 km 2 was attained, based on
catenary traverses located on airphotos.
Soil classification
The soils are classified primarily on those physical characteristics that
are considered to be most significant to crop growth - depth, drainage,
nature of parent material, amount of gravel or coarse material and texture
of the B horizon. Chemical characteristics, such as salinity, are taken
into account where relevant. The class limits of the above criteria conform
wherever possible with those of international classification systems, in
particular that used by FAO (1974).
Soil genesis
The soil-forming factors of parent material, climate, topography, time and
the biotic factor have each played a significant role. The parent rocks,
for example, weather to yield a largely insoluble quartz-rich residue almost
void of phosphatic minerals but relatively rich in potassium. The strong
seasonality of climate favours alternate periods of biochemical and
16

physical weathering with the production of laterite in many areas. Alkaline
or saline soils were not recorded in the Kaduna Plains. The topography,
being essentially gently sloping, generates rates of surface-water run-off
which concentrate sand and coarse material near the surface, while the
significance of the biotic factor centres around the role of man, vegetation
and soil fauna: all have modified the fertility and possibly texture of
the surface soil.
Interaction between these factors in the Kaduna Plains have resulted in
soils that are, in general, yellowish to reddish, deep, well drained and fine
or medium textured. They tend to have coarse textured surface horizons and
iron concretions, mottles and quartz fragments in the subsoil and to have
poorly to moderately developed structure. They are predominantly strongly
weathered, mainly poor in nutrients and have a thin organic surface horizon
that is easily eroded. Surface capping or crusting in silty or fine sandy
topsoils is widespread. With the exception of this phenomenon and from
the point of view of cropping, therefore, they are physically adequate but
chemically or nutritionally only poor to moderate.
Soil patterns
The land systems shown on Separate Map 1 are soil associations in the sense
that they are patterns of geographically associated soils. Several soil
series are widespread in the Kaduna Plains. However, it is rare for any
single series to be restricted to one land system and the usual case is
for seven or eight common series to recur together, but in differing
proportions, over several land systems.
Toposequences, in which the same arrangement of soils occur from crest
through valley sides to lower slopes, can be found but neither consistently
within one land system nor between land systems. This is believed to
result partly from the intricate pattern of parent rocks within Basement
Complex areas and partly from the geomorphological history which has resulted
in such areas having a relatively level surface relief. Surface reworking
has tended to infill valleys and further emphasises the uniformity of
landforms.
17

It is, therefore, impossible to predict with certainty the soil series
at any given location with the amount of information gained from this
reconnaissance survey. A more detailed survey in a sample area near
Zaria confirmed that while patterns might be clearer at that level, there
was no consistently predictable relationship between soil and topographic
site. This complicates considerably the necessary task of assessing the
agricultural value of land systems, for which the following method was
adopted. First, the facets of land systems are delineated in typical
areas by airphoto interpretation and the proportion of each facet for
each land system is calculated. Then, all profiles are individually
rated as to their suitability for a number of crops (Appendix 1) and the
area each rated soil occupies in each facet is calculated by the
proportion of such pits in that facet. This approach does not give
accurate results but for this reconnaissance survey is deemed to be a
reasonable guide, at least for the major land systems.
In spite of the complexity of soil patterns, certain sites or facets have
associated characteristic soil properties. On crest and upper slope sites
ironpan cappings are common. Generally, they have very shallow gravelly soil
interspersed with outcropping ironpan. Midslopes beneath the ironpan
commonly are deep and well drained but with much concretionary ironpan
rubble. Concretionary (recemented) ironpan may occur at footslopes.
Outcropping gneiss and schist commonly have very shallow soils also with
or without ironpan but mostly containing considerable amounts of quartz.
Soils on inselbergs and granite massifs are skeletal except for isolated
pockets of deeper soil. Footslopes to such areas tend to have gravelly
profiles.
Valley-head areas, being gently concave, commonly have soils with impeded
drainage shown by either gleyed matrix colour or a large number of gley
mottles. These soils are not widespread.
Valley bottoms and floodplains have not been examined in detail, but
observation and accounts from farmers show them to be very varied both
texturally and in drainage properties.
18

In the north of the Kaduna Plains, at least as far south as Zaria, soils
are locally very silty. Such soil, depths of 30 cm or more, is uniformly
coloured and textured and there appears to be a discontinuity between this
and the more clayey, commonly stony subsoil. Such surface silt or very
fine sand is believed to originate as aeolian sand and silt transported by
harmattan winds.
Soil fertility
The Kaduna Plains have moderate to good physical fertility with the
possible exception of certain floodplain soils. They are well or
imperfectly drained, thus there is adequate aeration at all times and
waterlogging is brief if it occurs at all; they have sufficient rooting
depth for most crops, except on and near ironpan cappings and rocky areas -
together estimated at less than 9% of the total area; most are neither
excessively coarse nor fine—textured and the proportion of coarse material
limitsroot development in only a few soil series.
However, there is a tendency for the surface to form a thin but hard crust
or cap during the first rains of the wet season, which effectively prevents
penetration of rain and seedling emergence and causes rapid surface run-off
and erosion. This phenomenon is most widespread in silty or very fine
sandy topsoils low in organic matter. It can be averted by a variety of
cultivation practices, such as mulching, timely ploughing or by the use of
proprietary soil conditioners.
Chemically, the fertility of the most common series is moderate to low,
again with the possible exception of some floodplain soils which are
believed to have above-average fertility. They are moderately to strongly
weathered and moderately to weakly leached of bases. The clay fraction is
inherently rather inactive so that even with the low levels of bases
present their cation exchange complex may be highly saturated.
Exchangeable potassium levels are good and rarely less than 0.2 and as
much as 0.5 meq%; calcium and magnesium levels are moderate; sodium is
very low and commonly absent. With pH values of 5.0-6.0 the soil acidity
is near-optimal for major nutrient availability. Organic matter is very
19

low but well humified almost everywhere mainly as a result of burning and,
as might be expected, contributes significantly to topsoil cation exchange
capacity and fertility status. Phosphorus levels have not been determined,
but by comparison with other areas can be expected to be generally
deficient. Water-soluble carbonate and conductivity only locally exceed
low levels.
VEGETATION
The activities of man on the Kaduna Plains have, over the centuries,
succeeded in modifying much of the vegetation so that most of the present
plant communities consist of regrowth species (Land Resource Report 19,
Volume 2, Blair Rains et al., 1977). Burning, cultivating, grazing,
firewood-gathering and cutting for building purposes all contribute
towards delaying the natural succession from simple weedy first-year
regrowth after crops to complex, so-called climax forest.
Three broad vegetation zones can be differentiated in the Kaduna Plains.
Derived Savanna, Southern Guinea Savanna and Northern Guinea Savanna
(Text Map 5.9). However, because of man's over-riding influence,
through cultivation and use of fire in particular, there are now many species
which occur throughout the area and very few which are confined to one zone.
The differences between the zones, therefore, tend to be more between plant
community distribution than between individual species distribution. Some
of these communities are described briefly here.
Fire-hardy species are among the most widespread, some 15-20 woody species
alone occurring from south to north wherever annual firing of the savanna
woodland takes place. On the other hand, Isoberlinia doka and I. tomentosa
are found only in the North Guinea Savanna Zone, Albizia zygia, Khaya
grandifoliola, Uvaria chamae and Chlorophora excelsa are forest species
found essentially in the Southern Guinea Savanna and Derived Savanna Zones
while the herb Aframomum sp. and the suffrutex Combretum sericeum are
usually confined to the forested Derived Savanna.
Fairly well defined plant communities have evolved in a variety of
ecological sites. Shallow, well drained stony soils on ironpan, for
20

VEGETATION AND TSETSE DISTRIBUTION ON THE KADUNA PLAINS
7°00' 7°30'
30
-J I I L
8°30' 9°00'
TEXT MAP 5.9
11°30'
11"00'
10°30'
9°30'
Major road
ir Local government headquarters
o Town
Minor road or track o Village
= = = * Railway
_ 9°00'
8°00'
°30'
9°00'
Kilometres
0 30
J l_
1:1,500,000
Boundary of vegetation zones. Zones as described by Keay (1 949, 1 952 and 1 953).
White (1 965) classifies the Isoberlinia doka as within the southern part of the
Sudan zone and the savanna to its south as all of derived origin.
Southern limit to distribution of Andropogon pseudapricus
Glossina morsitans infestation
214 Vegetation sample site
D.O.S. 3270J Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
60

example, have a characteristic community of woody plants and grasses.
In the Derived Savanna Zone there is an open community of Afrormosia
laxiflora and Lophira lanceolata and an herbaceous layer of Hyparrhenia
smithiana and H. subplumosa or Andropogon ascinodis and Schizachryicum
sanguineum. Further north, Isoberlinia spp., Monotes kerstingii and
Uapaca togoensis are the chief trees, with a wide variety of grasses,
including Ctenium newtonii, while further north still, in the Northern
Guinea Savanna, Boswellia dalziellii is added to the shrub community and the
grasses are even more varied.
Comparable communities can be listed for deep well drained soils, deep
poorly drained soils, floodplains and rocky areas. There are also
distinctive grass and woody species successions following cultivation,
fire and grazing where the dominance of man as the main ecological
control is even more marked. In these often heavily used areas which
tend to evolve into a park-like savanna (Blair Rains et al., 1977),
only economically valuable species survive in the long term - for
example, the shade trees Daniellia oliveri and Khaya senegalensis which,
with Khaya grandifoliola, Afzelia africana, Pterocarpus erinaceus and
Acacia albida, are also valuable dry-season browse trees for cattle.
Other species are retained for their fruit, such as Butyrospermum
paradoxum, Tamarindus indica and Parkia clappertoniana.
A significant aspect of the distribution of grasses in the area is that
where heavy grazing is practised in the north an annual grass,
Andropogon pseudapapricus, tends to become dominant in second-stage fallow.
It has low nutritive value and is unacceptable to stock when mature. It
is anticipated that with increasingly heavy use of the land,its spread
outwards and southwards from major centres of population will continue.
Control may not be easy because, while either long fallows or continual
intensive cultivation will serve to eliminate it, these measures may be
difficult to achieve in the very areas where grazing by local farmers'
small herds is most desired.
Competition for land between the traditional Fulani graziers and the
cultivators is a contentious issue already in the intensively used land
north of Zaria. This will increase as more and more land is taken up
21

for crop production. Although the remedies for this - formal allocation
of grazing rights in well defined reserves and mutually agreed cattle
routes to grazing lands and water - are self evident and recognised, only
limited progress appears to have been made and increasingly bitter
disputes can be expected.
Because insufficient is known of the natural grassland browse plants of
the savanna, and because Government sees a more important role for cattle
in the national economy than hitherto, it is necessary to establish a
comprehensive research programme on browse species, based on sustained
utilization (see LRR 19, Appendix 2 (Blair Rains et al., 1977)).
Little natural high forest remains in the Kaduna Plains. Such remnants
can be exploited as a renewable resource with enlightened, planned
management, through selective felling and by imaginative replanting in
gaps with hardwoods which will become extremely valuable in the future,
as well as softwoods. Some kurame forest reserves should be created bio­
sphere reserves as they would be valuable as base lines for comparative
PRESENT LAND USE
Density of cultivation
A conventional analysis of land use showing crops and cultural features
was abandoned due to difficulties in interpreting features consistently
with the airphotographs available. The alternative of delimiting the
density of cultivation from 1:40 OOO-scale air photographs taken in late
1971, 1973 and 1974 was, however, successful. Four percentage classes
were distinguished; > 60, 60-35, 34-10 and

Areas with more than ^60% cultivation These are areas with little spare
land. Population is such that there is considerable pressure on land and
farmers move out of the area. Nomadic pastoralism is impossible and animal
production is usually restricted to stall-fed beasts. The areas are
considered unsuitable for the establishment of resettlement schemes,
large mechanised farming project, mixed farming based on use of cattle
for draught purposes or grazing and forest reserves because of problems
associated with land tenure, and the displacement of population.
Areas with 60-35% cultivation These are areas in which, for the existing
farming system, there is a balance between population and available land.
Any development in these areas will result either in a change in the
farming system or increased pressure on the land, particularly through a
shortening of the fallow period. . ithough nomadic pastoralism is not
impossible, there are likely to be severe problems associated with
herding and damage to growing crops. Again, land is not available for
large mechanised farms and resettlement schemes.
Areas with 10-34% cultivation These are areas with either a high
proportion of land unsuitable for arable crops or there is unused land.
Fallows are longer than in more intensively used areas. They may be areas
of new settlement with farmers moving from densely settled areas. Land
is available to support the nomadic pastoralist's herds if not fly-
infested or in a game reserve, though burning and other malpractices
continue to affect adversely the stock-carrying capacity. Where there
are no soil limitations to crops and slopes are N< 3%, mechanised farming
schemes could be established.
Areas with

Distribution of cultivation
Separate Map 2 shows areas of dense cultivation around Kaduna and Zaria,
a large area to the north and west of Zaria, scattered parts of the
Lere-Zuku area in the east and the Kafanchan district in the south-east.
A smaller area occurs around Kafin Koro in the extreme south-west. There
is a very large area with little cultivation forming a broad north to
south band west of Kaduna-Zaria with outliers to the east, either because
these areas are infested with tsetse fly or because the soils are locally
poor. Evidence from this survey, however, does not show the soils to be
substantially different from those to the east or south. The area with
little cultivation in the eastern parts coincides closely with forest
reserves, rocky hills or other poor agricultural land.
Present farming systems
Gosden (1978) describes the agriculture of the Kaduna Plains as being
one of small-scale, subsistence farming in which cash crops play a small
but significant part. The crops are rain-fed and normally there is no
assistance to the hand labour except with draught animals and the
beginnings of mechanised cultivation in the Funtua-Zaria area. Several
cultivated plots or farms make up the typical family holding and these are
grouped around villages or hamlets. Few holdings exceed 4 ha in total area.
The main crops are sorghum, maize and yam, usually interplanted with
cowpeas. While sorghum is grown throughout the area, maize is common
only in the south-east and yams in the south-west. On this basis three
farming systems are recognised, which grade one into the other and are not
necessarily static. Around the foot of the Jos Plateau in the east is an
area where acha (Digitaria exilis) is also grown as a food crop, but
decreasingly so as it is highly labour-intensive. A wide variety of cash
crops are grown. All except acha and rice are grown on ridges or mounds.
24

1. The sorghum/maize farming system
This extends southwards approximately as far as the latitude of Kaduna.
Short-season gero millet and cowpea are interplanted with the two main
crops; sweet potato and cassava are subsidiary food crops. Cotton is
usually the most important cash crop with groundnuts next in importance.
Chili peppers are popular in the north around Funtua and in most places
rice and sugar cane are grown extensively in fadamas. Tobacco is
important locally around Zaria, as are onions and tomatoes in fadamas.
2. The sorghum/maize/yam farming system
Here, yams begin to be an important food crop while maize diminishes in
importance. Gero millet is replaced by dauro millet but cowpeas are
still interplanted everywhere. Cotton is not grown and groundnuts are less
important, while ginger becomes the most common cash crop with pepper, rice
and soya bean locally important.
3. The sorghum/yam farming system
In this south-western area yams surpass maize as the second good crop.
The main cash crops in addition to surplus food crops are ginger, early-
planted beans and rice and sugar cane in fadamas where possible.
Livestock
Cattle ownership among the arable farmers is uncommon with only a few
individuals in most areas owning from 1-5 head, either for fattening or
milk. These are often herded with Fulani cattle by arrangement in the
dry season and hand-fed in compounds during the rainy (crop-growing)
season. Tsetse fly is a restraint to cattle husbandry in a large part of
the north-west and central areas (Separate Map 2). Even outside in some
nominally tsetse-free zones farmers report that the fly occurs near
rivers and locally around the village area, as though once-freed areas
are being reinvaded. Only in the north and north-east is there a general
absence of tsetse according to the farm surveys.
25

Most families own a few small stock - sheep, goats and poultry - which are
keptin compounds or tethered on uncultivated land (during the daytime)
during the rains and allowed to forage in crop residues after harvest.
Residues of groundnut and cowpea haulms are highly prized and conserved;
sorghum stalks are also collected and stored.
Settled Fulani cultivate land and rear cattle in a few places. Nomadic
Fulani pass through the area from north to south and back between grain
harvest and planting, resting in a locality from between a week to
months depending on the grazing availability. Aspects of rangeland are
discussed further below.
Agricultural infrastructure
The Kaduna State Ministry of Agriculture provides most of the services
for the advice and assistance of the farming community. Small marginal
areas of the Kaduna Plains are similarly covered by the equivalent
m-ï *-» -i o f VTF f"i*-\ •*- "Dlaföati Cf a f Ö Va y»/-» Of a f 0 an »^ Mï /-YO*V- C f a f O rpVie* 'Ccx/^ö-va 1
Capital Territory occupies a small portion in the south where future
agricultural programmes are unknown.
In the extreme north-west, the Funtua Rural Development Project (run by
the World Bank)is a new and efficient project specifically designed to
raise output through improved agricultural infrastructure.
Unfortunately, it has proved impossible to obtain up-to-date raw data
for analysis for the Kaduna Plains, partly due to the recent
restructuring of local government areas and partly due to the number of
state ministries involved. The following is, therefore, based largely
on pre-1976 information.
Agricultural extension. Formerly, a Provincial Agricultural Officer
(now a Chief Agricultural Officer) was based in Kaduna with Divisional
Agricultural Officers in Funtua, Saminaka, Kaduna, Zonkwa, Sabon Gida
and Zaria. An Agricultural Superintendent was in charge of each District
26

(now known as local government areas). This basic structure may have been
modified since 1977. No data on numbers of extension workers could be
obtained for Kaduna State. However, in all other parts of this project
the ratio of extension workers to the number of farming families is very
high which, taken in conjunction with the poor communications over parts
of the area, means that many farmers will have little or no contact with
advisory services. This must be a major constraint to improvement in the
agriculture of the area.
Agricultural centres Farm centres for seed multiplication and
experimental work are established at Samaru-Zonkwa, Maigana and Saminaka.
There is a Farm Institute for training farmers' sons at Birin Gwari and
a Farm Training Centre at Zonkwa, where a School of Agriculture was also
to be opened in 1977. The Institute for Agricultural Research at Samaru
is attached to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, as is the National Animal
Production Research Institute at Shika.
Fertiliser No information for Kaduna State could be obtained later than
1972-73. It is known, however, that demand for fertiliser generally
exceeds the supply, but availability fluctuates considerably both
geographically and during the planting season.
Agricultural chemicals These are mainly seed dressings and cotton sprays.
They are sold through commercial outlets so that there are no comprehensive
records of the amounts used. Demand is greatly in excess of supply.
Improved seed and planting material No records are available but it is
believed that the total annual amount is very small.
Mechanical cultivation Tractor hire units were in operation before 1976
but it has not been possible to obtain data for Kaduna State. Their total
effect on crop production in the State is probably low, although in 1976
the mechanically cultivated acreage for 'Operation Feed the Nation' must
have been considerable.
27

Rangeland
Rangeland and cattle production in the Kaduna Plains are described by
Blair Rains (1975, 1978). The main factors to be considered in
the assessment of the potential of an area for livestock production are
the natural vegetation and the ways in which man has modified it. Thus,
it depends not only on the palatability and nutritive value of grasses
and browse and the balance between herbaceous and woody vegetation, but
also on the amount of cultivation, the availability of crop residues, the
amount of grass that is burnt, the time of year it is burnt and the
number of cattle that are in an area. It is important to recognise that
the carrying capacity of an area is very different in the wet and dry
season, and it is the dry season, or minimum carrying capacity, that limits
the ability of this area to support cattle throughout the year.
Fodder resources
Grassland The open trees and shrub savannas of the Kaduna Plains are
described briefly in an earlier section of this report and more fully by
Blair Rains et al. (1977). They afford grazing for large numbers of
cattle in more northern areas during the wet season and in southern areas
during the dry season. Common grass species which are readily grazed include
Andropogon gayanus, A. ascinodis, Hyparrhenia smithiana and Schizachyrium
sanguineum.
In some places, as a result of sustained grazing pressure, swards of
mainly Brachiaria spp. develop. Hyparrhenia rufa and Andropogon gayanus var.
bisquamulatus are found on lower slope sites and are often grazed early
in the dry season, burnt and regrazed. Some of the grasses and weeds of new
fallows and stubbles of cereal crops are also eagerly sought.
The cultivation of the floodplains is increasing and so reducing the grazing
area available; farms sometimes prevent access to uncultivated fadama
grassland.
28

Fodder trees The woody vegetation also provides fodder. Trees such
as Khaya senegalensis, Afzelia africana, Pterocapus erinaceus and
Daniellia oliveri are lopped, particularly during the dry season. While
this is not harmful to trees if practiced in moderation, excessive lopping
is increasingly taking place and is likely to lead to their elimination.
Crop residues Reference to Separate Map 2 shows the distribution of
cultivation within the Kaduna Plains. The farmed areas produce large
quantities of crop residues that are suitable for animal feeding. The
most valuable are groundnut haulms (harawa) and cowpea vines and these
are collected by the farmer for his own stock or for sale. The cereal
stover is less valuable but is also collected and stacked for fodder;
the stalks are also used for fencing and building.
Cattle population
The distribution of settled and semi-settled, largely non-Fulani, cattle
in the Kaduna Plains is mainly confined to the north-west of Zaria, with
other small herd;? around Kafachan and Kachia. A limited number of cattle
are resident near Kaduna, and provide some milk for this urban centre.
Very large numbers of seasonally migrant Fulani cattle are moved each
year through the area from both Kano and Katsina in the north and for
many oi: these the heavily cultivated Zaria area is an important staging
post. While some herds move south towards Keffi with little delay,
others spend two months or longer after the sorghum harvest fairly close
to Zaria before moving a shorter distance southward after these crop
residues have been consumed.
The return journey northwards at the beginning of the rains is made
rapidly, particularly where it involves vacating or travelling through
tsetse-infested country.
29

Burning
Nomadic pastoralists burn perennial grassland to remove coarse, unpalatable,
straw-like material and to stimulate fresh green growth for stock to graze.
Burning in itself is not harmful to grasses but when followed too soon by
grazing of new growth, it causes loss of vigour in individual plants and
leads to undesirable changes in botanical composition.
Tsetse
Tsetse, including the savanna species, Glossina morsitans (see Separate
Map 2), which is generally regarded as being the principal vector of cattle
trypanosomiasis, occurs widely in the Kaduna Plains. The spraying programme
currently in progress is intended to eradicate fly. Complete elimination
may prove difficult in some areas, at least initially.
Carrying capacity
Wet-season grazing is abundant and nutritively fairly satisfactory
throughout the uncultivated parts of the Kaduna Plains, although in
several areas there is a high risk of trypanosomiasis during this period.
Dry-season upland herbage on the other hand is not nutritively satisfactory
in the Northern Guinea Savanna Zone, as explained below, and herd owners
there rely on crop residues, floodplains (fadama) grazing and browse from
shrubs or trees. Elsewhere, dry-season grazing is generally adequate.
In the central and southern part of the Kaduna Plains, corresponding to
the Southern Guinea Savanna and Derived Savanna Zones, it would be unwise
to assume a year-round carrying capacity better than one bovine adult per
5-6 ha. Areas which are only grazed in the dry-season may be stocked at
1:2 ha; the tall herbage is, however, unlikely to be nutritively
satisfactory. Lower stocking levels must be applied in areas which are
regularly swept by fire. (The grazing of burnt areas during the dry-
season should be discouraged.) Areas grazed during the wet-season should
30

e stocked more lightly and 113-4 ha is suggested; the quality of the
herbage is improved by wet-season grazing. The carrying capacity of any
area is related to the density of the woody vegetation, and a heavily
wooded area will have a lower carrying capacity than that of a more open
area.
In the Northern Guinea Savanna Zone results of trials at Shika National
Animal Production Institute indicate that the year-round carrying
capacity on uncleared land is as low as 1:7 ha due to shrub and tree
competition. The unsatisfactory nature of this upland dry-season
'herbage' must be emphasised and the wet-season-only stocking rate is
about 1:3.5-4.5 ha. In this northern area the cultivation density is
locally high and dry-season feeding is mainly provided by the large
quantities of crop residues. It is calculated that sufficient fodder
can be obtained for two adult cattle from 1.5 ha of cultivated land for
three months after the harvesting period (until January) after which
resort is made to fadama grazing and browse. The most important residue
for cattle is sorghum stover; other residues tend to be kept for
small stock.
Fadama grassland can provide fodder for 2-3 cattle per hectare in the dry-
season while growth continues. It is therefore highly significant to
the northern, resident herd owners and, to a lesser extent, to the migrant
o
Fulani. There are approximately 830 km of such fadama in the Northern
Guinea Savanna Zone of the Kaduna Plains. Browsing allows stock to utilize
some of the inherently poor upland herbage of the north but it is
difficult to quantify its contribution; it is known that yields decline
as a result of mismanagement, however, such as by excessive lopping.
Forestry
Forestry in the Kaduna Plains is discussed by Howard (1976) in the context
of forestry within the entire project area.
31

Forest reserves
There is a total of 9 663 km of forest reserves in the Kaduna Plains, of
which 109 km^ is high forest. Many of the reserves cover large areas;
they were demarcated in the relatively unpopulated areas of Isoberlinia
woodland (Southern and Northern Guinea Savanna) that occur in this part
of the country. The high-forest outliers (Derived Savanna) occur in the
southern extremes of the area.
Where the population density is high, along the north-east boundary of the
Kaduna Plains and along the south-east boundary and near to large
administrative centres, plantations have been established. Afaka(near
Kaduna\ Mairabo, Kabama and Guga (near Zaria) are examples; a few small
isolated plantations have been made near Kafanchan.
Paradoxically, the primary use of many forest reserves is for grazing.
Herdsmen have long since realised that they can graze in forest reserves
in comparative peace, and the Fulani, being considered nomadic and
therefore without rights to land, were rarely if ever admitted the right
to graze at the enquiry stage of the forest reservation procedure. The
management for grazing and forestry are completely different. While
foresters strive to maximise the tree cover and exclude grass, graziers
on the other hand seek to obtain the opposite result. The widespread
habit of burning by graziers has important consequences. In particular,
the practice of early dry-season burning encourages the woody growth at
the expense of the grasses while late burning has the opposite effect.
In the Northern Guinea Savanna Zone, woodland grazing is poor; four times
the land area under woodland is generally required to feed one cow, as on
open grassland. The result of a laissez faire policy in which the
Forestry Department permits grazing in forest reserves without managing
the reserve with grazing in mind is slow degradation of the woodland and
often the complete destruction of the herbaceous layer and subsequent soil
erosion. The soil erosion may be particularly severe on steep lower
slopes.
32

Since the beginning of the Sahelian drought, forest reserves have also
come under pressure as a source of browse for livestock. Contrary
to regulations and to public notices, the annual lopping of browse species
such as Afzelia africana, Khaya senegalensis and Pterocarpus erinaceus has
been allowed to continue and is now so severe as to endanger the existence
of large numbers of these valuable trees.
Some forest reserves were created with protection of steepland watersheds
in mind. Examples are Zuma Hills, Katerna, Chawal and Rahama Escarpments,
Amere, Nindam, Chanje, Rukuba, Gurum River, Jere and Limoro Chokobo.
Forestry plantations
Afaka Forest Reserve has been a centre of forestry research since about
1955. It is now being planted with eucalypts and pines. The small
plantations near Zaria, Mairabo and Kabama have been planted with eucalypts.
Planting of eucalypts started in Guga Forest Reserve in 1969.
Growth data for the Northern Guinea Savanna Zone have been obtained in
Afaka, Mairabo and Guga Forest Reserves, showing that Eucalyptus
camaldulensis grows at a rate of 4-10 m /ha/a. Eucalyptus tereticornis
in Kabama also grows at the same rate. Unfortunately, growth data from
the Southern Guinea Savanna Zone and the high-forest relics of the
Derived Savanna in the Kaduna Plains are not available.
33

Part 3

Part 3 Environmental limitations to development
INTRODUCTION
This part of the report presents the facts about the environment and
present land use which are used to derive and identify the development
possibilities given in Part 4. The basic unit of description throughout
this section is the land system. Because of the large number, the land
systems have been grouped for convenience according to the number of
crops that can be readily grown in them*. The crops considered are the
main subsistence and cash crops, i.e. yam, maize, millet, sorghum,
groundnuts and cotton. Land systems grouped in this way i.e. by the
number of crop options, reflect the productive versatility of the land.
The groups are shown on Separate Map 3, also in Table 4, and are described
in turn below, except for Land Systems 441, 442 and 5, for which field
data are not available. LS5 consists of floodplains, which are productive
in crops and grassland.
There is no clear correlation between the distribution of crop-option groups
and the three identified farming systems of the Kaduna Plains described
briefly in Part 2 and comprehensively by Gosden (1978). It appears that
farming patterns have emerged as much as a result of historical and social
factors as of broader environmental controls. It is, therefore, impracticable
to describe details of farming systems for each crop-option group in this
Part as has been done for equivalent volumes of other reports in this series.
Climatic limitations common to all groups are discussed first for the
Kaduna Plains as a whole. The remaining environmental factors which are
significant to agriculture emerge as differentiating criteria between the
various groups.
*The assessment of environmental factors in terms of limitations to
particular crops is explained in Appendix 1 and by Mansfield (1978)
35

TABLE 4 Land systems grouped according to number of crop options
Administrative
unit
Kaduna State
within local government areas
Number of crop options* and land systems (by number)
6 crops 5 crops 4 crops 3 crops 2 crops 1 crop MS/ US**
Birnin Gwari 418,421,
426
Funtua 418,421,
422,426,
449
450 444
Ikara 425,429 425,429 421,429,
431,450
Jema'a 422,435,
440
404,410,
438
436,451 434 413,443 443
436,437 415 412 401,423 1,2,
102
Kachia 402,406, 404,405, 411,416, 430 412,439 401,413, 413 1,2,
420,421, 409,410, 424,436, 417 102
422,427, 419,422, 437
429,433, 428,429,
435 431,432,
438
Kaduna 422 422
Keffi 420 404 436 401 1,2,
102
Saminaka 425,429,
433,435
Kano State
405,429,
431
Tudun Wada 425 425,431
448
Plateau State
407,414,
424,431,
436
414
Barakin Ladi 435,440 438 437
403,430 408,413 1,2
Bassa 435 431 403,434 1
Toro 435 404,431 414 434 1,2
Niger State 406,427 428 401
Federal Capital
Territory 406,420 428 436 401
*Yam is unsuital ale in pa: cts of SOI ne northern land systems for climatic
reasons
/Moderate or se vere limii tat ions fc ar all crops considered
**Unsuitable fo r annual, rainfed < :rops
36
No data for Land Systems 441,442 & 5

CLIMATIC FACTORS IN RELATION TO CROP GROWTH
The climatic factors of major importance are the length of the rainy period,
maximum and minimum temperatures, global radiation and the number of hours
of sunshine during the growing season (Text Maps 4 and 5). These factors,
which have been summarised in Part 2, are considered here in terms of their
effect on the production of maize, millet, sorghum, groundnuts, cotton, rice
and yams.
The rainy period over most of the Kaduna Plains exceeds 180 days on average
(Benoit, 1976) but as all but one of the crops under consideration (yams)
have a growing period of less than 120 days this factor is not critical.
Yams require a growing season of at least 180 days( so the northern areas;
which have a calculated rainy period of less than that , are
unsuitable for this crop. For the purpose of the discussions that follow,
a tentative line has been drawn across the northern Kaduna Plains on
Separate Map 2 which represents the northern limit of successful yam growth.
It is based on theoretical climatic and observed field data.
Similarly, rainfed rice on free-draining soils requires at least a 200-day
growing season and a minimum annual rainfall of 1 300 mm. These conditions
are not jointly fulfilled in the Kaduna Plains, although rainfall would be
adequate in the south-east. For yams, rice and sugar cane, whose water
requirements cannot be met under normal rainfed conditions, the floodplains
in many places retain adequate groundwater long after the rainy period has
ceased and their cultivation under these special conditions is successful.
There are no temperature limitations to the growth of any of the crops.
Global radiation and sunshine hours, which indicate the light energy
available, decrease from north-east to south-west but are not believed to
be limiting to the crops considered.
LAND SYSTEMS WITH SIX CROP OPTIONS
These comprise the land systems which offer the fewest limitations to the
widest range of crops in the Kaduna Plains. They occupy 42% of the Plains
37

as a large part of central and north-western areas, and range in size from
a number of isolated areas of Land System 440 (totalling 71 km 2 ) to Land
System 422 which around Kaduna occupies at least 2 OOO km . Because of the
insufficiently long growing period, northern parts of Land Systems 418, 421,
422 and 425 are considered unsuitable for yam production, and this
is borne out by farm surveys. Between 50-60% of each of these lie in
more suitable, southern areas, however, and they are consequently discussed
here under the six-crop group rather than in the following five-crop group.
The main characteristic's are summarised in Table 5.
Limitations to crop growth
1. Soil physical characteristics
The physical soil limitations to the growth of certain crops are given in
Table 6. It can be seen that for all but rainfed rice the limitations
over the largest part of the land systems are minor. For rice the
presence of free-draining soils is a handicap as there is insufficient
groundwater for maturation in the average rainy period.
In general, coarse material and drainage become minor limitations in
soils covering small areas of land systems for maize, sorghum and cotton,
while millet and groundnut are sensitive to textural restrictions. Yams
are considered to have virtually no soil limitations in the dominant
soils in this group of land systems.
2. Soil chemical characteristics
The limitations caused by soil chemical features are assessed in Table 7.
From the characteristics analysed, dominant soils of most land systems have
a cation exchange capacity (CEC) that, while not excessively low, signifies
that a fallow period is desirable after cropping to build up nutrient
levels, unless high applications of fertiliser are made. The pH levels
indicate probable phosphate deficiencies. The potash status is
satisfactory.
38

TABLE 5 Sunnary of main characteristics of areas with six crop options
Land
syst en
Crop
options
Occurrence
402 Maize- Kachia,
millet,
sorghum,
cotton,
yam,
groundnut
K ad una LGAs
406
418 Maize,
millet,
sorghum,
cotton,
yam,
groundnut
420
42?
422*
425*
427
429*
433
435
440
445
Kachia LCA,
Niger State
Saminaka
Funtua
LGAs
Ped. Cap. Terr.,
Kachia, Keffi
LGAs
Bimin Gvari,
Kachia LGAs
Funtua, Birnin
Cwari, Kachia,
Zaria LGAa
Ikara, Tudun
Vada LGAs
Density of
cultivation
Very low, except Sorghum,
patches of maize, yam,
moderate density dauro, some
along Kaduna- acha
Iri railway
Very low, except Sorghum, yam,
patches mod. and maize, rice,
hi -h density in cassava
Kafin Koro area
Very low to low Sorghum.
in ill et,
maize, rice,
yam, cocoyam,
acha
Sorghum,
millet, yam,
acha., maize
Very low Sorghum,
millet, maize,
cocoyam,
cassava
Very low to lowbut
with highdensity
area
around Kadima
Very low to low,
with moderate
density around
Dadin Kowa
Present cropping /
Food Cash
Sorghum, millet;
maize in north,
yam in south
Sorghum,
millet, maize,
rice, cassava
groundnut
Kachia LGA Very low Sorghum, yam,
maize, beans,
cassava, acha
Zaria, Kachia,
Saminaka.
Ikara LGAs
Kachia,
Saminaka
LGAs
Bassa,
Saminaka
LGAs
Kachia,
Jema'a LGAs
Zaria,
Ikara LGAs
Very low to low,
with moderate
density around
Rumau
Sorghum,
millet, maize,
cocoyam, rice
Low Sorghum,
millet,
maize, yam,
acha. rice,
cocoyam
Low, except
high-density
areas in
Karambana
Valley and
Fadan Chawal
Low, to dense
centred on
Manchok
and Malagan
Moderate, to
high on axis
of roads
radiating from
Zaria
Sorghum,
millet,
maize, yam,
acha
Sorghum,
millet,
maize, rice,
cassava
Cotton,
groundnut,
rice,
ginger,
sugarcane
Sorghum, yam,
rice,
groundnut
Cotton,
rice.
groundnut,
tobacco
Ginger, yam,
sugarcane,
groundnut
Cotton, pepper,
groundnut,
cowpea, rice
Cotton and
pepper in IT,
rice; yam
and ginger
in S
Cotton,
groundnut,
rice,
sorghum,
pepper
Rice, yam
sorghum,
sugarcane f
groundnuts
Cotton,
tobacco, rice,
pepper,
groundnuts
Tan,
groundnuta,
ginger,
pepper,
soya
Yam, soya,
sorghum,
maize,
groundnut
Cotton,
groundnut,
pepper,
sugarcane
Draught
animals
State of
erosion **
Communie
it ion
Rang el and
and cattle
Forestry
None Mod. t« severe Moderate After tsetse Akwana East
gullying on
cleared , Mai Ido
lower slopes.
suitable for
Some sheet
mainly wet-
erosion
season grazing
Few in
north,
none in
south
None observed Poor Satisfactory
year-round
grazing
Moderate
gullying on
lower slopes.
Some sheet
erosion
Slight
gullying on
lower slopes.
Some sheet
erosion
Mod, to severe
gullying on
lower slopes.
Some sheet
erosion
None Moderate
gullying
common on
lower slopes
Moderate
gullying on
many lower
slopes. Some
sheet erosion
Few Moderate
gullying
common on
lover slopes.
Some sheet
erosion
None Sheet erosion
on a few
lower slopes
Severe
gullying on
many midlower
slopes.
Some sheet
erosion
None observed
Severe
gullying on
many lower
slopes. Some
sheet erosion
Wet-season
grazing safe
after tsetse
cleared
Satisfactory
year-round
grazing but
mainly dryseason
at
present
Moderate Tsetse to be
cleared then
grazing
mainly
suitable in
wet-season
Tsetse to be
cleared in
northern parts
then suitable
for mainly wetseason
grazing
Wet-season
grazing
Poor After tsetse
cleared wetseason
or
year-round
grazing
possible
Moderate Tsetse risk to
wet-season
grazing. Some
crop residues
available
Good Satisfactory
wet-season
grazing
Poor
Satisfactory
wet-season
grazing but
less so in
dry season
Moderate Vet—season
grazing.
Crop
residues
available in
dry season
*0nly southern parts of these lane I systems are Clin ïatically suitable 1
for yam production (see Separate Map 3)
/information derived from farm sua •veys described bj r Gosden (1978)
•* Terms defined in Appendix 2
^/Refers to estimated proportion ci * area within 5 ku i of al 1-weather „arred or hard-top roads; poor 0 to lCfS; mod. 10-50^ ; good *50?£
39
Akwana East
Beni
Doka
Libere
Kagarko,
Kabaro
Giya
Mando Road, North
and South
K lkau, L ab ara, A i" aim,
?ando Rd, H & S
Caguru, Kakau,
Tukuruva
ligach-Ikun, Anara
?atika, Idasu
fekangi
fei Ido
Gulma River
Doka
Akwana East
Kona, Ribako
Libere
No reserves
Rukuba, Jere
Gurum River
Rahama Escarpment
Chawal Escarpment
Kurmin Davaki
Teak and eucalypt
plantation
No reserves

TABLE 6 Soil physical limitations to the growth of certain crops in areas with six crop options: crop options indicated by shading
No. of
crop
options
Land
system
No.
1 f
Area
%Soil limitation category (SLC) by crop in each land ayatem,with nature of limitation*
km* Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnut Cotton Yam „ainfodHc, |
2 f
SLC
% class
of SLC
in land
system
Natura
of
limitation
Siifèïgj; SfcSSSSSSSSSSS
SLC
111 liHlä; lllllllll
liolsl lillliiii lil
%class
of SLC
in land
system
Nature
of
limitation
SLC
% class
of SLC
in land
system
Nature
of
limitation
6 402 1240 694 siis
111 Mmm iiiisisisiiss
ItSjijïW JSIllll! lil üiü llllllll MMM läillllll
lil Hiiii llllllll;; iasl ISiii lillllllll
im lilii
lllllllll lil
llll ilSSbl iSillllll
illllllll
lili
llll; 6
406 1667 1284
llllt llllllll
lis
111 ÜÜH
30-59 FD
ISäiÄiffiss
lllllllll Mm
Hl tlüÉi liiiiiss*
lliiil
lllllllll 111
III 3060
1HÜI lilllllll
;||||1||1 lllss illi ililiiii lil
mm mm; S;t;S;SSffisss;;s;; mm
ill :|9|||;;
l^illlll lil mim
6
llllllil lllll
SëSSSSsSSSffi lllll llllllll
üü lllllllll
*
560 FD
418 156 123
III Mit
||ÜJ||i llllllll lil WÊÈÈË lllllllll 111 sswSSä!
Ulllll illlllll 111 ïlSSI Sïlllïlllll III;
llll llll;
glwSSSSIS'SSISjS
|S|11;S;;S;S;S
lil
sllililll
iiiiiiil Hill lllll llllllll
6
420 998 888 III lliil lllllllll
iïSï
lil lllll llllllll Ills lÄiil
liii lili llïillllll llll lllll liililll
10-29
30-59
S80
FD
FDD
FD/FDC
PR3I /Nis/ IM/Ia
421 851 630 Wis
Mm
111
mil
422 6699 5694 lis
HI liilï
lÄll
S;$&;:S>|S:;SSSS lil siÜÜ S&j$ÄSS
iliiiiiiii
lsls|*s;|;s
425 716 637 ill
III Is&lll
ilili liiliiii
lllllllll
427 1929 1775 ISIilSI
MM
ill
lliiil
ISSöSSÖS
||8|a||
llÊllllli
:!;;;iS:g;:;:;g;:g;l;;;:;:;:::; 111 lllll iiiiiiii ISISiS
|ï| lllll llllllll «1
111 Hüil
WSMMMMM mm m i ÄillSIl mm
MiMMMMM MM MfWmMm Mm
§1§||1|||§ lil •lllll llllllll
SLC
% class
of SLC
in land
system
Nature
of
limitation
SLC
iililill ill;
Mm SSÄ9I WMMMM III
il«iilll
sasssas
illilli lëllllll
iiasjs
llliäfllll llll
% class
of SLC
in land
system
Nature
of
limitation
WmMMMï
SLC
% class
of SLC
in land
system
ill llÜll
11111;
iiililli
sssii 30-68 liiiiii SSäS|S ÄU;;
Mm MWlM WMMMM
Uli
liülll Illlllll; III lilll; liillili
ll^ëi^iii lil WÊË llsiillll
|;ä|||;; l^iiill
llll
SläjoSIfjpl
111; lliiil liillli; ÄS; ÉsÜÜ lilllllsss slis iÖlsl; iisiiiiii
«|;;S;S;;S;S;;S;S; MMi iÖSÏÏ; S«jSc'Jss;ssss
llll
mimi
Wjmmm
Éüisi llllllll llll iiiiiiii
lillllllll 111; illii llllllll lill
||S|SQ|
lllllllll
llll
SllSäSS; iSlillll; S i löSäss liilliiill SsiSSS lBsï?S SSIiiSJSISils
lÄSlSI SiïplSIS|S||| ÄSI Wmi s^;S;:;S;S;S;;;S;;;; is Mmm sisssssissss
III lliiil lllllllll 111 Ulli lllllllll llll Iliiiiiiii
IHII
ISSIilSiSISISISI lill lllll
iiilliii
429 1387 1179 Mm Mmm llllllll lil;
MÏM mWMMMM
Ills' Itlllsl lllp^ll
III laölsi WÉÏ0ÏMM mm 30-89
lllill ill |£$iltl ;Wlllll;l|
lÄIII mm W%$i SKSSSSlS*; KIsSS
Wm Mmm' SiiifiijSillll ;Sil Mmm MmMMMi
iS:*|l iïilll lilÄiil llll l'Élf:
433 81 76 Sil; lÄsäs SltMlSISISISISI 111 ll?$ll lllllllll
WtM WÊm Sel|;|Ssl|S|;;;|SS
III
:S;s*S llös'sil l$|l|||S|SSS älSISISI 3mm l;S;S;S;;SS;;;S;S;S SsiSI mmm ÉliS
MM SSïBisïBs:; •èmmmim SS3SSS mmi :Sfö;SSS;S;SSS;;;S; SilSss mSm ï|iS;S;S|;|SIS;i|SS
111
llll
illill
435 293 293 mm
MM
Hi WMM
lliill; lllÜlllll
lllllllll
;ScSS;S;S;:;:;:;SSS;S;
llllllll
lilllll I§É§II
lil lllll lillllllll ISIilS iäölsp iiiiiiii
lil iiiiii lê|S;S;SSS;S;SSS
ill
I l
isilsis
ISA
llll
lllll
ISDSSISSI
llllllll
IIA St*S;;;S;S;;;S;S;S;S
IlllWl
illlllll;
lil
sllllllili mm
Mm
lËi
Naturo
of
limitation
lllll
lil; illil
lllllï iliiiiiiii
llllllll
SLC
% class
of SLC
in land
system
Naturo
of
limitation
»60 FD/FDC
>60 FD/FDC/
llll lllll Ëllilll FDC
Sf*it|S|S||l|||
;|||||;;
lllllllll lllll S60 FD/FDDQ./ I
lllll llllllll FDC
lillli
ll^lli
iiilill
I-Billis
llll lill! 181111111 >60 FD
FDC
|«||||||| S60 FD/
FDc
lllll lllll llll!!! 560 FD/
F00C
lllll
MëMÜBtii lllil SSsS|S;;|S;SSS;s
llllllll >60 FD/
FDC
440 85 71 111 lisll lil llllll lllllllll HI llllll
Illlllll lill IIHl lillllllll llll lÜll flillllll lllll lllll llllllll »60 FD/
FDC.
445 306 291 sill Hü! llllllll; lil lllll lllllllll Ills liöilll iililill llll lliäSS lllllllll Si!! ISili l«llllllll
111 liililll
MM MWmM
sSaSSs lull ;ÄS;Sä;;sss;;s IIÜ WÊm Ji|S|S|S|:|S;S|S;S; llll lllll liililll
11*1
;iSïSs;s»SS:;S
SsSSSj
>80 FD
IS!! IIÄIS Illllllllll
;S5?|ä$|l|l
WMsWM
llllllll
llll WÊÊê liillli
IPli
iiilill
* Limitations Depth Drainage Texture Coarse material FD-Free draining
^Area 1 - total area; Area 2- area to which data refer
D Severe W Severe T Severe C Severe
D Moderate W Moderate T Moderate C Moderate
d Minor w Minor t Minor c Minor
Prepared by Land Resources Development Centre 1978

TABLE 7 Dominant-soil chemical characteristics assessed as limitations to crop growth for land systems
with six crop options (based on mean values for dominant soil series, excluding top horizon)
Land CEC meq % Exch. K
system * meq % /
pH
Limitations due to pH for
Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnuts Cotton Yam
P
availability
**
402 5.0-6.8 0.3 5.4-6.4 Nil-Minor Nil Nil-Minor Nil-Minor Nil-Minor Nil Minor-Mod
406 4.1-6.0 0.2-0.3 5.2-5.9 Nil-Minor Nil Nil-Minor Nil-Minor Nil Nil Mod
418 4.3-7.1 0.3 5.3-6.0 Nil-Minor Nil Nil-Minor Nil-Minor Nil Nil Minor-Mod
420 3.9-6.0 0.1-0.3 5.1-5.9 Nil-Mod Nil Nil-Minor Nil-Minor Nil Nil Mod
421 4.7-7.1 0.3 5.5-6.0 Nil Nil Nil-Minor Nil Nil Nil Mod
422 4.3-7.1 0.3 5.1-6.0 Nil-Mod Nil Nil-Minor Nil Nil Nil Minor-Mod
425 4.3-8.1 0.2-0.4 5.0-5.9 Nil-Mod Nil Nil-Minor Nil-Minor Nil Nil Mod
427 3.8-7.5 0.1-0.3 5.1-5.9 Nil-Mod Nil Nil-Minor Nil-Minor Nil Nil Mod
429 3.9-7.1 0.1-0.3 5.1-5.9 Nil-Mod Nil Nil-Minor Nil-Minor Nil Nil Mod
433 4.3-6.0 0.1-0.3 4.6-5.9 Nil-Mod Nil-Minor Nil-Mod Nil-Mod Nil-Minor Nil-Minor Severe-Mod
435 3.9-6.0 0.2-0.3 5.1-5.9 Nil-Mod Nil Nil-Minor Nil-Minor Nil Nil Mod
440 8.6-9.7 0.1 5.2 Minor Nil Nil Minor Nil Nil Mod
445 4.3-10.9 0.2-0.3 5.3-6.4 Nil-Minor Nil Nil-Minor Nil-Minor Nil-Minor Nil Minor-Mod
•
...__ . —...
*CEC m« 2q_ % whole soil (cation exchange capacity): >8 Suitable i
7.9 Requires
a high ratio of fallow to crops;

Limitations to mechanical cultivation
The dominant slope (defined in Bennett et al, 1977, Volume 1) of most
land systems is less than 2 (Table 8). The assessment of these slopes
terms of erosion hazard is given in Appendix 2 and is summarized below:
Erosion hazard Slope range, %
Nil tl
Slight 1-3.0
Moderate 3.1-10
Severe >lO
The critical limit for economical; large-scale, fully mechanised farming is
3% (approx. 1.5°), however, and several widespread land systems have this
characteristic, notably Land Systems 42 7 and 429. Unfortunately, with
the exception of Land System 433 at the foot of Jos Plateau escarpment, the
land systems of this group are fragmented to some degree by shallow valleys,
and lower slopes have, or are susceptible to, accelerated erosion. Rock
outcrops are locally common in Land Systems 402, 406, 418, 420 and 440,
while ironpan is commonly present on crested areas of Land Systems 420, 421,
422, 425 and 429.
Thus, more or less throughout the area covered by land systems with six
crop options,it will be necessary to examine the land critically for (a)
sufficient size for a large, intentively-run mechanised farm, (b) for the
need to adopt soil conservation measures, such as terracing or contour
ploughing and (c) for unduly extensive rock or ironpan exposures (see
Part 4 and below). However, if it becomes policy to encourage mechanized
cultivation on small farms it should be practicable to do so in parts of all
land systems in this group.
42

TABLE 8 Dominant slope and range of slopes on major facets in areas with
Land
system
six crop options
Slopes of major facet
Percent Degrees
Dominant Range Dominant Range
402 4 2-10 2.5 1-6
406 4 2-7 2.5 1-4
418 3 2-5 1 1-3
420 4 2-7 2.5 1-4
421 3 2-7 2 1-4
422 3 2-7 2 1-4
425 2 1-3 1 0.5-2
427 3 2-5 2 1-3
429 3 2-5 1.5 1-3
433 1 0-2 0.5 O-l
435 3 NA* 1.5 NA*
440 1 0-2 0.5 0-1
445 2 1-3 1 0.5-2
*Not analysed
Density and distribution of cultivation
Reference to Table 9 and Separate Map 2 show that areas of dense cultivation
are not widespread. Large parts of Land Systems 420, 421, 427 and 433
in particular have only scattered, sparse cultivation while the remainder
are moderately well used with local centres of dense cultivation around
Kaduna and the Zaria area especially. Roads and railways are favoured
lines of development, while valleys, possibly due to tsetse infestation,
are relatively unused.
43

TABLE 9 Density of cultivation in areas with six crop options
Land Total area
system km 2
Land Total area
system km 2
Land Total area
system km 2
402
406
418
420
421
422
425
427
429
433
435
440
445
Forestry
1 240
1 667
156
998
851
6 699
716
1 929
1 387
81
293
85
306
Admin, unit
(dominant)
Kachia, Kaduna
Niger, Kachia
Kachia, Funtua, Z aria
Fed. Cap.Terr.,Kachia
Birnin Gwari, Kachia
Zaria, Kachia -
Ikoa, Tudun Wara
Kachia
Zaria, Kachia
Saminaka, Kachia
Bassa, Kachia,Saminaka
Kachia
Zaria, Ikara
2
Land areas (km ) in
four cultivation densities
% under
% of 6o 60-35 34-10

TABLE 10 Summary of main characteristics of areas with five crop options
Land
system
Crop
options
Occurrence
404 Malse, millet Niger State;
sorghum, yam, Kachia,
cotton Keffi.
Jema'a LGAs
405
409
410 Maize,
millet,
sorghum,
yam,
cotton
419 Maize,
millet,
sorghum,
ootton, yam
426 Maize,
millet,
sorghum,
groundnut,
ootton
428 Maize,
millet,
sorghum,
ootton, yam
431
432
438 Maize,
millet,
sorghum,yam
cotton
446 Maize,
millet,
sorghum,
groundnut,
ootton
447
448
449
Density of
cultivation
Low to very low Sorghum,
millet,
yam',
maize,
rice
Present cropping
Food Cash
Ginger, yam
rice ,
sugarcane
Niger State: Very low to low Sorghum, Cotton,
Kachia. '
maize, yam, ginger,
Saminaka LGAs
millet yam,
groundnut
Kachia LGA Low, with
patches of
moderate density
Kachia.
Jema'a
LGAs
Sorghum,
millet,
maize,
yam, acha
Groundnut,
ginger, yam.
soya
Very low. to Dauro, Rice,ging er
high in vicinity sorghum, soya
of Hafanchan cocoyam, groundnut,
maize, yam, yam, sugar­
rice, acha cane,
peppers
Kachia LGA Very low to IOÏ Sorghum,
millet,
maize ,
rice, yam,
acha
Zaria,Blrnin
Gvari,
Funtua
Niger State,
Kachia LGA
Kachia,
Saminaka,
Bassa LGA
Low to very low,
small patches
medium, one highdensity
area
around DanJa
Sorghum,
millet,
maize, yam,
sw potato,
cassava
Ginger, yam,
sugarcane,
groundnut,
sorghum
Tarn, cotton,
tomato,
groundnut,
rice
Low to very low Sorghum, Rice, yam,
yam, maize, sorghum,
beans, sugarcane,
cassava groundnut s
Low, with Sorghum,
scattered area of millet,beare
medium density acha, yam,
maize
-otion, rice
groundnuts
peppers
Kachia LGA Very low Sorghum, Cotton,
maize, yam, ginger, yam,
millet, groundnut,
rice, acha sugarcane
Kachia,
Barakin
Lad! LGAs
Low, to dense
near Jal
Zaria LGA Low to very
low, but area of
high density
around Zaria
Zaria,
Ikara LGA
Funtua,
Zaria LGA
Very low to low,
but h1c*i around
Suba
Nil In Anchmi
FRs to dense
patches around
Anchau, Kargi,
Augo, Gobuehi,
Gobirawa
Low to moderate
with high
density towards
Puntua and
around Hoska
Sorghum, Tarn.
dauro. sorghum,soya
maize.yam. maize,
acha ,sveet groundnut
potato
Sorghum, Tarn, cotton,
millet. groundnut,
maize, yam, rice
sw, potato
Sorghum,
millet,
maize,
oowpeas,
cassava
Sorghum,
millet,
maize,
rice,
cocoyam,
cassava
Cotton,
groundnuts,
sugarcane,
covpeas,
pepper
Cotton,
pepper,
cocoyam,
rice,
sugarcane
Draught
animals
State of
erosion/
None None
observed
Slight
gullying
common on
lower slopes
Some sheet
erosion
Moderate
gullying
common on
lower slopes
Some sheet
erosion
Slight
gullying
on lower
slopes
Slight
gullying on
a few lower
slopes. Some
sheet erosion
Rare None
observed
None
Siigh'«. to
severe
gullying
common on
lower ~3opts.
Some sheet
erosion
Moderate
gullying
common on
lower slopes
Some sheet
erosion
Moderate to
severe
gullying
common on
lower slopes
Some sheet
erosion
Rare Severe
gullying on
lower slopes
Some sheet
f»rns1 op
Slight sheer
erosion an
a few lover
slopes
Few
None Severe
gullying
on many
lower slopes
Some sheet
erosion
Communications**'
Rangeland
and cattle
Poor
Satisfactory
yeaiwound
grazing iftsetse
eradicated from
northern area3
Vet-season
grazing possible
after tsetse
eradicated
Good Satisfactory
year-round
grazing
Poor Tear-round
grazing possibe
but mainly dryseason
at present
Forestry
Kagarko
Kubacha
Nindam, Kafanchan
Kurmin//
Chanje
Libere
Katema
Rahama
Escarpment
Poor After tsetse Giwa
cleared,yearround
or nearly
Akwana Vest
Moderate
year—round grazig
possible
Vet-season grazing Anara
but with tsetse Maje
Poor
risk until cleared.
Same crop residue
far drv season
Year—round Kaf in Koro,
grazing bit Kwanti, Pinal,
mainly dry-season Nanati, Siehe,
grazing at Feri, Kvagena,
present
KaTcxri, Kabo,
Shanu, Doka,
Giwa. Akwana Vest
ModeraLt Mainly wevseason
grazing
but some areas
of tsetse to be
cleared
Good
Kwogln Kei-ami
Kurmin Birl
Poor Tear-round Rahama
grazing possible, Escarpment
Best in wetseason
but
increasing cultivation
reducing
available area
Moderate Vet-season Kabama )
grazing, with Mairabo)plantdry-season
crop Anara )ation '
residues near
Zaria
Kona )
Good Vet-season
grazing
Kona
Poor Vet-season
grazing in
uncultivated
areas and crop
residues in
dry season
Good Vet-season
grazing between
farms. In dry
season, crop
residues and
some floodplain
grazing
•information derived from farm surveys described by Goeden (1978)
/Terms defined In Appendix 2
»•Refers to estimated proportion of area within 5 km of all-weather tarred or hard-top roads: poor O-IO56, mod. 10-50#, good 50%
//Teak plantation at Kafanchan Kurml and Chanje
45
Nasar awa
Anchau Vest
Guaraka
Kurmin Kogi
Tudun Iya

above. Land Systems 426, 446, 447, 448 and 449 lie wholly in the north
and they are climatically unsuitable for yam. Groundnut is the other crop
excluded from this group on environmental grounds.
Together,the land systems in this group (allowing for half of LS 418, 421,
422, 425 and 429 in the six-crop option group) occupy 29% of the Kaduna Plains.
They occur in almost all local government areas but largely in the south­
west and south-east, in both extensive and small blocks.
Limitations to crop growth
1. Soil physical characteristics
The physical limitations to the growth of crops under consideration are
shown in Table 11. The limiting factors for groundnut are clayey textures
or stoniness in Land Systems 404, 405, 409, 419, 428 and 431. Land System
432 also has imperfectly and poorly drained soils on the dominant crestal
and side slopes. Depths of dominant soils are not thought to be limiting
for any of the crops, although shallow soils containing soft weathering
rock are common in Land Systems 404, 405 and 426.
2. Soil chemical characteristics
From Table 12 it is clear that the cation exchange capacities of all
analysed soils are low, with the inference that exchangeable and soluble
nutrients are readily leached and that long fallow periods are desirable
to build up organic matter and nutrient levels, unless artificial fertilisers
are used. Soil acidity appears to be satisfactory but indicates that
phosphate deficiency can be expected almost everywhere and particularly in
some soils of Land System 449. Potash levels appear to be adequate.
Limitations to mechanical cultivation
The dominant slope of land systems in this group is less than 2.5°, as shown
in Table 13, with the exception of the more dissected Land System 404. With
46

TABLE 11 Soil physical limitations to the growth of certain crops in areas with five crop options: crop options indicated by shading
No. of
crop
options
Land
system
No.
Area
%Soil limitation category (SIC) by crop in each land aystem.witri nature of limitation*
km" Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnut Cotton Yam Rainfad rice
l' 2 f
SLC
5 404 974 622 1
2
3
% class
otSLC
in land
systam
3#.tS9
10-26
40S 1420 1221 1 4M*
»OS»
409 76 66 1
2
*
410 172 127 i
2
342-9S
10-2*
10-4*
»0-29
39*50
»0*2*
419 623 368 30-59
426 1018 682 1
2
3
429 1780 1S84 t
2
*
431 2640 2218 1
2
4:
432 228 192 1
4
438 149 104 *
3 ]
446 688 622 i
2
3
447 724 644 1
z
448 896 824 t
2
449 678 514 i
t
ltJ-3»
40-5»
»«-29+
ÏO-29
*Ö*29
30-«$
10-29
10-39
30-S9
Ï0-6O
Netore
of
limitation
m
Hit
t
Nil
«
e
SLC
t *
m>
*
C-
%C/«J5
of SLC
in land
systam
30*59
W-J» c
Nature
of
limitation SLC
1
2-
3
% class
otSLC
in tand
systam
30-50
»0-2»
»0-4»
2 MO ten <
I 36-5*
£ »so tflx 1
2
2 SQ-B»
2
S
mi '?
3
•
D/ifw
Nil
» •
tt-29
10-29
io-a» vre/C
30-90
to»*»
10-2»
30-68
10-29
30-5 8
10-23
30-99
10-23
NB
t
«it
e/w*
NU
e/Vr
m
«A
2
3
4
2
4
2
3
4
10-4«
1
2
a
Nature
of
limitation
Hit
«
0»
«
3Q-»0
30-B8 c7»
ifl-2»
30-56-
»01-29
«
SLC
30-59 *«e 2 30-53 ttf« 2
3
304»
(049+
39-S9
to-29'
io-a«
30-59
*0-7»
10-iB
»0-80
30-5»
30-59
10-29
»0-29
trte
to
l«ft /tw
W/C*
Wie/tC
t/te
wtC
t
2
3
1
2
3
2
1
*
2
3
2 30.SS t/wl 1
2
2 *60 tytw 1
2
i X50 f/K/fW 1
*
2 &BO l/«0 1 »
i
2
3
30-59
10-29
1
1g/«rt
2
4
30-50
10-29
10-29
10-2*
10-2»
10-2»
Nature
of
limitation
«ill
ft
8)1
tf
Nit
«
0
or-SIC
SLC ( //, /anrf
, systam
3
30-66
10**9 C
Nature *I%'L" " W
limitation "> '* nd limitation
systam
4 : «0
i
FD;
FD C/C
1 >«0 Nil 560 FD/
FDc
f *Bt> KB »60 • FO/
; FDC
1
3
30-59
10-29
Nil
C
1
S60 FD/FDC
30-59
10v2* « ) *eo Nil 30-59 FD/
FDC
SO-SfJ
\0-29
ao-50
10-2»
10-29
1029
10-29
10-29
30-99
30-50
f 0-28
10-29
10-2»
30.*0
W-24
10-29
30-59
10-2»
30-S9
10-2»
30 -«9
10-29
10-29
m
0 Climatically unsuitable
Hit
mm
N4
t
«/«
1
3
4
30-«»
»0-29
10-24
NB
C
e
S60 FD/FDC/
FDfiC
»60 FD/
FDC/C
1 »BO N*t 560 FD/
FDC
KB 1 >eo ! Hit 30-50
30-59
e
c
Nil
«it
Nit
1
3
30-59
10*29
«lit
C
Climatically unsuitable
Climatically unsuitable
Hit
C1W Climatically unsuitable
Nil
w
Climatically unsuitable
Nil
FO/FDC
5 S60 FO/
FDC
5
10-29
30-59
Nil
FD/FDc
560 FD/
FDc
560 FO/
FDc
S60 FD/
FDOC
' Limitations Depth Drainage Texture Coarse material FD-Free draining
'Area 1 - total area; Area 2- area to which data refer
D Severe W Severe . T Severe C Severe
D Moderate W Moderate T Moderate C Moderate
d Minor w Minor t Minor c Minor
PR31 /Ni6/m/ib Prepared bv Land Resources Oevelopmeni Centre 1978

00
TABLE 12 Dominant-soil chemical characteristics assessed as limitations to crop growth for land systems with five
Land
system
crop options (based on mean values for dominant soil series excluding top horizon)
CEC meq

a limit of 3% (approx. 1.5°) for mechanized farming, only Land Systems 404,
405 and 409 are unsuitable, but it must be emphasised that the remainder
contain a proportion of steeper land, usually as lower slopes (such as .
LS 431) , on which soil conservation measures are necessary and that the
gentler slopes may be fragmented by rock outcrops or ironpan cappings.
Rock outcrops are common in Land Systems 404, 405, 419 and 446; ironpan
in Land Systems 426, 447 and 449.
TABLE 13 Dominant slope and range of slopes on major facets in areas
Land
system
with five crop options
Slopes of major facet
Percent Degrees
. Dominant Range Dominant Range
404 9 3-17 5 2-9
405 4 2-10 2.5 1-6
409 4 2-7 2.5 1-4
410 4 2-7 2.5 1-4
419
426
3
3
2-7
1-3
2
1.5
1-4
0.5-2
428 3 2-7 2 1-4
431* 3 2-5 1.5 1-3
432 3 2-5 2 1-3
438 1 CK3 0.75 0-1.5
446 3 2-3 1.5 1-2
447 2 1-3 1 0.75-2
448 2 1-3 1 0.5-2
449 2 0-3 1 0-2
•Figures are those of side slopes occupying estimated 36% of land
system. Lower valley sides with irregular, partly gullied slopes
occupy 39% with slope range of 2-90°
Density and distribution of cultivation
It is clear from Separate Map 2 and Table 14 that few land systems in this
group are densely cultivated. The exceptions are isolated areas of moderate
49

and high density at the foot of the Jos Plateau escarpment in Land Systems
404 and 431, a densely cultivated area of Land System 428 around Kafin in
the south-west and moderate to densely cultivated land in the vicinity of
Kaduna'in Laind System 422. Elsewhere, the density is very low or low, not
entirely because of the occurrence of forest reserves although these occupy
considerable parts of Land Systems 422, 426, 428, 432 and 448.
TABLE 14 Density of cultivation in areas with five crop options
Land Total area
system km 2
Land Total area
system km 2
Land Total area
system km 2
404
405
409
410
419
426
428
431
432
438
446
447
448
449
Forestry
974
1 420
76
172
623
1 018
1 780
2 640
228
149
888
724
896
578
Land areas (km
Admin, unit
(dominant)
2 ) in
four cultivation densities
Admin, unit
(dominant)
% under cultivation
% of ^10%
class in
>60 60-35 34-10 < io
forest
reserves
Kachia, Keffi, Jema'a
Kachia, Niger
Jema'a, Kachia
Kachia
Zaria
Niger, Kachia
Kachia, Saminaka
Kachia
Kachia
Zaria .
Zaria, Ikara
Kaduna Zaria
4
14
12
80
96
96
139
167
8
34
5
12
3
54
18
324
30
112
128
274
202
510
365
51
104
160
623
931
1 637
Poles and firewood are readily available from natural vegetation. There are
38
31
359
399
342
209
450
984
20
44
450
341
827
teak plantations at Kafanchan KurmiA and Chanje (LS 404) and Eucalyptus
plantations at Kabama and Mairabo.
50
599
184
67
321
lOl
141
17
5
35
19
41
15
50
5
IO
43
13
65

LAND SYSTEMS WITH FOUR CROP OPTIONS
The 10 land systems forming this group comprise 16% of the Kaduna Plains.
2
Approximately 5% (24 km ) of Land System 436, however, lies in the north
where for climatic reasons yam is not produced and this portion forms part
of the three-crop option group.
The general characteristics of the group are given in Table 15 and discussed below.
The chief environmental limitations relate to the occurrence of coarse material,
poorly drained and shallow soils, which individually or severally exclude
cotton, groundnuts and millet from the range of crops considered. Yam is
excluded from Land System 450 entirely due to its northern position.
This group occurs largely in the north-east of the Kaduna Plains with smaller
areas in the north, south and west, and in all administrative areas.
Limitations to crop growth
1. Soil physical characteristics
The physical soil limitations for growth of selected crops are shown in
Table 16 together with their severity and the estimated extent to which they
affect each land system.
Excessive coarse material within rooting depth in some soils in Land
Systems 411, 436, 444 and 450 is a deficiency for millet and groundnuts.
Poorly drained and shallow soils of Land Systems 424, 444 and 450 are
unsuitable for millet and groundnuts in particular, while maize, millet and
cotton are unsuitable in Land System 407 because of poor drainage alone, making
conditions more favourable for rainfed rice: this is only one of two non-
floodplain land systems on the Kaduna Plains in which rainfed rice production
may be successful though groundwater utilization.
51

TABLE 15
Land
system
Sunmary of main oharacteriatica of areaa with four crop c ptiona
Crop
option
407 Sorghum,
groundnut,
yam, riee
411 Kali«,
sorghum,
ootton,
J**
414 Maize,
millet,
sorghum!
yam
416 Maize,
sorghum,
ootton,
yam
424
Occurrence
Saminaka
LGA
TTaoMe
LSI
Saminaka,
Tudun Vada
Toro LGAs
Kachla,
Jema'a
LGAs
Saminaka
LCA
436 Jema' a,
Keffi,
Kachla,
Saminaka
LGAs and
Niger
State
437 Jema'a,
Barakin
Ladi LGAs
450
»|l
Gwarzo,
Ikara,
Funtua,
Halamfaahl
LGAs
Density of
cultivation
Low to moderate Sorghum, gero.
maize, dauro..
sweet potato,
cowpea, tamba
Present cropping
Very low to low Sorghum, dauro.
ache, cowpea,
maize, yam
Low, with areas
of moderate and
high denaity
around Rahama,
Dan Aihaji and
Dababe
Low, with high
denaity areaa
near Kwatil
and Sabon Sarik
Predominantly
low and very
low
Very low in west
to dense around
Kagoro in east
Moderate to
dense
Predominantly
denae
Food Cash
Sorghum, gero.
maize, dauro,
sweet potato,
cowpea. tamba
Sorghum, dauro.
a aha, cowpea,
maize, yam
Sorghum, dauro.
beans, yam,
acha, maize,
sweet potato
Sorghum, maize,
yam, acha
Sorehum. dauro.
maize, yam,
acha. sweet
potato
Sorghum,
gero. cassava,
sweet potato,
maize
Groundnut,
sorghum,
ootton,
cowpea,
rice,pepper,
sugarcane,
vnm
Ginger,
sorghum,
acha. peppers
cowpea, yam
Groundnut,
sorghum,
ootton,
cowpea, rice
pepper,
sugarcane,
yam
dinger,
aarghum,
a aha,
pepper,
cowpea
Cotton,
rice,
groundnut,
pepper
Ginger,
groundnut,
yam,
sorghum
Tam,
sorghum,
soya, maize
groundnut
Cotton,
groundnut,
peppers
sugarcane,
cowpea
Draught State of
eroaion*
None Moderate
lower
slope
gullying.
Some sheet
eroaion
None
observed
Moderate
gullying
tommon on
lower slopes
Some sheet
erosion
Moderate
gullying on
a few lower
slopes. Sane
sheet erosion
Slight
gullying
common on
lover slopes
Some sheet
erosion
Slight to
moderate
gullying on
a fev lower
slopes.
Some sheot
erosion
Slight
gullying on
a few lower
slopes.
Some sheet
Communications
Rangeland
and cattle
Moderate Vet-season grazing
Crop residues
available in dryseason
Poor Tear-round
grazing possible
but mainly dryseason
at orpaent
Good Vet-season
grazing. Crop
residues available
in dry-seaaon
Poor Tear-round
grazing possible
but mainly in
dry-season at
present
Moderate Vet-season
grazing
Foreatry
No forest reserves
Akwana East
Kurmin Male
No forest reserves
Bakin Kogi
Poor Tear-round
grazing possible
but mainly in dryseaaon
at present
Kat e ma
Tear-round
grazing
possible.
Best in wetseason
but
erosion increasing
cultivation
reducing available
area
Slight
gullying on
a few lower
slopes.
Some sheet
eroaion
Moderate Vet-season
grazing. Crop
residues available
in dry-season
•Terms defined in Appendix 2
information deri red from far 0 surveys deacribe d by Goaden (1978)
••Refers to estima ted proporti on of area within 5 km of all-weathei * tarred or hard-top road; poor 0-10^, mod. IO-5OJS, good > 5O9È
52
No forest reserves
No forest reserves

TABLE 16 Soil physical limitations to the growth of certain crops in areas with four crop options: crop options indicated by shading
No. of
crop
options
Land
system
No.
Area
km I
l' 2* SLC
4 407 360 306 1
2
411 175 1 16
414 176 132 i
3
4
3
% class
of SLC
in land
system
10-29
10-29
30-50
30-99
MM«
1Ö-29
%Soil limitation category (SLC) by crop in each land 8ystem,with nature of limitation*
Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnut Cotton Yam Rainfed rice
Nature
of
limitation
Nil
w
W
•a
m •
e
C/wc
SLC
2
3
2
4
%class
of SLC
in land
system
30-59
30-50
30-59
10-29
416 97 57 i 30-68 m 2 30-59 t
424 477 429
438 487 391 1
2
4
: A
4 10-33
36-50
10*29
10-2*
m
«/<
Nit
c
Oc/lC
Nature
of
limitation
t/wt
Wt
% c/ass
of SLC
in land
system
Nature
of
limitation
% class
of SLC
in land
system
Nature
of
limitation
% of?LC
SLC
SLC
SLC of SLC Nature
of SLC
i
limitation
ill llliliil
illiiii l^lllsllllll
III lili llllllll 1 I 10-29 Nil
iliiill 3 10-29 W
4 30-60 w
lllill illiiii I • 30-59 t
10-29 111 11*11'
• ;s*S*ïas; |S|||||| 10-29 t
1 10-29 Nil
ili&l
llllllll iÄstl
30-59 tc/wc
2 10-29 t/c
111 llllllll l|||||||i
4 10-29 Wc/W
30-59 t
111 iiifli llllllll • • lllillill lij fS
lil
ill
111 mWämä
liiilll
1
10-29 t
liilillll
1 I ïpiiiii 30-59 tc/C l&ïiiili
llllll WÈÊÊM
mum
mm sippoi
ill liliili;
I i
30-50 t
30-50 tc/tw/Ct liliili
llllllll
ill 1111
jiiiilll
|ßi$$§|f
||:$$§|
*
a lijllllllll 11 m
li
muit iiillll
m
30-59 t
mmmm
10-29 Ct/Wt
wis illiii liÉllil 10-29 QC iiSlliilii
t
ct III 30.6S
2 ! 30-6» mm
2
4
5
2
4
30-59
10-29
10-29
30-59
10-29
tc/t
W'/Wtc/Dtc
DC/DC
437 40 15 t Sö-äö m 2 30-50 t ill lllsllül §11111111 30-50 t L
450 611 587 1
2,
*
360 FD/
illiiii FDC
5 »60 FD/
FDC/C
llllllll 5 30-50 FD
5 »60 FD/
FDDC
* Limitations Depth Drainage Texture Coarse material FD-Free draining
'Area 1 - total area; Area 2- area to which data refer
D Severe W Severe T Severe C Severe
D Moderate W Moderate T Moderate C Moderate
d Minor w Minor t Minor c Minor
PR3l/NIG/IH/1c Prepared by Land Resources Development Centre 1978

TABLE 17 Dominant-soil chemical characteristics assessed as limitations to crop growth for land systems with four
Land
system
crop options (based on mean values for dominant soil series excluding top horizon)
CEC meq 4*5 ** P avai Lability related to pH
>8 Suitable for intensive agriculture ^•0.10 Adequate £2 Limitations
2.0-7.9 Requires t 1 high ra-bio of fallow to < 0.10 " Deficient
Nil
6.5-7.5

2. Soil chemical characteristics
Some chemical characteristics are given for dominant soils of land systems
in Table 17. There is a narrow, low range of cation exchange capacity which
implies a poor ability to retain nutrients and the need for lengthy fallow
after cultivation to build up organic matter and nutrient levels. The
soil reaction is satisfactory, however, but within the pH range shown it is
inferred that phosphorus is not readily available, especially in Land
System 410. Level of 'potash appear to be satisfactory with the possible
exception of soils in Land System 411.
Limitations to mechanical cultivation
Dominant slopes in this group are comparable to those discussed above. The
only land systems with dominant slopes exceeding 3%, and which are, therefore,
TABLE 18 Dominant slope and range of slopes on major facets in areas with
Land
system
407
411
414
416
424 .
436
437*
450
four croD ODtions
Slope of major facet
Percent Degrees
Dominant Range Dominant Range
3
3
2
3
3
5
1
2
2-5
2-7
0-1
2-5
2-5
3-10
0-2
2-3
1.5
2
1
2
1.5
3
0.5
1
1-3
1-4
0-1.5
1-3
1-3
2-6
O-l
1-2
•Figures are those of planar to convex
interfluve crests occupying estimated 42%
of land system. Floodplains occupy 45% of
land system
54

unsuited to mechanized farming, are Land Systems 410 and 436. The
remainder contain gently sloping crests and side slopes ranging in area
from a few to several hundred hectares which are suitable. There are no
very extensive areas of flat land as valley bottoms; steepened lower slopes
and shallow gullies are common. Land Systems 424 and 450 are the most
favourable in this report.
Land Systems 414 and 416 commonly contain large to small rock outcrops,
which mainly occur on crestal sites. Ironpan cappings are common in Land
Systems 411, 416, 424 and 450. Both these features reduce the land
available for setting out large fields.
Density and distribution of cultivation
Referring to Separate Map 2 and Table 19 it can be seen that only Land
System 450 in the north is densely cultivated over most of its area.
Elsewhere, isolated pockets of high-density cultivation occur near to the
foot of the Jos Plateau escarpment in Land Systems 410, 414, 416 and 438.
The general density is low although there are no large uncultivated areas
of forest reserve.
TABLE 19 Density of cultivation in areas with four crop options
Land Total area
system
407
411
414
416
424
436
437
450
km 2
km 2
km 2
360
175
176
97
477
487
40
611
Saminaka
Kachia
Toro
Land areas (km
Admin, unit
(dominant)
2 ) in
four cultivation densities
Admin, unit
(dominant)
% under cultivation
% of

Forestry
Most land systems have an ample supply of poles and firewood from the
natural vegetation. Exceptions are Land System 450 on the northern
boundary of the project, and small parts of 407, 414, 424, 436, 437 and
438 near centres of population. There are no plantations.
LAND SYSTEMS WITH THREE CROP OPTIONS
In Table 20 the main characteristics of the land systems in this small
group are given. Further aspects are discussed below.
The physical limitations for crop growth are more severe than those land
systems considered above resulting in their elimination entirely for
millet and groundnut and partly for cotton and yam. Land System 434 lies
in part north of the climatic limit for satisfactory yam growth and this
portion becomes, therefore, a two-crop-option area.
The combined area of the land systems (excluding part of LS 434) is
2 909 km^ or 7% of the Kaduna Plains. The land systems occur
principally in Zaria, Kachia and Ikara Local Government Areas.
Limitations to crop growth
1. Soil physical characteristics
The main limiting physical factors can be seen in Table 21. Land
System 403 has small areas of poorly drained soils on some side slopes
which are inimical to groundnut, cotton and millet growth. Land System 444
is similarly affected, but in valley heads. Shallowness and stoniness are
linked closely with the presence of ironpan: Land Systems 415, 430, 434,
444 and 451 all have shallow profiles with much coarse material, mainly on
crestal and footslope sites. Texture is only a minor limitation in this
group , the soils being neither excessively coarse nor heavy-textured.
56

TABLK 20 Summary of main characteristics of areas with three options
Land
system
Crop
options
Occurence
Density of
cultivation
Present cropping*
Pood Cash
Draught
animals
State of
erosion/
Communications**
Rangeland and
cattle
403 Maize, Bassa LGA Low, with small Sorghum, Cotton None Moderate gullying Moderate Mainly wet-season Rukuba
sorghum, area of high dauro. rice common on middle grazing
yam
density at foot beans, groundnut
to lower slopes.
of plateau
acha. peppers
Some sheet erosion
escarpment
yam,
maize
415
Forestry
Jema'a LGA Low, to high Sorghum, Ginger Some sheet Good Tear-round No forest
around Kwoi dauro. rice
erosion on
grazing possible, reserves
acha. groundnut
middle to
but mainly dry
yam, soya
lower slopes
season at
cocoyam acha
present
430 Kachia LGA Very low with Sorghum. Groundnut. Moderate to severe Moderate After eradication Libere,
small areas of dauro. cotton, gullying on many of tsetse,wet- • Doka Hills
low density acha. rice,
lower slopes,
season grazing
maize,
yam,
rice
cowpea
also sheet erosion
possible
434 Bassa, Ikara, Very low Sorghum, Cotton. Slight to moderate Satisfactory J ere,
Toro LGAs gero.
maize,
rice,
cassava
groundnut,
rice,
sorghum,
peppers
gullying on few
lower slopes,
escarpments, where
tin-mined. Some
sheet erosion
wet-season
grazing
Limoro
Chokobo
444 . Maize, Funtua, Very low and Sorghum, Cotton. Rare Moderate to Mainly wet- Kakangi, Guga,
sorghum, Zaria LGAs low, with area gero. groundnut, severe gullying season grazing. Maje.
Cotton of moderate and rice, sugarcane, common on lower Some dry-season Plantation in
high density near maize, peppers, slopes. Some sheet crop residues Guga
Giwa cassava rice erosion available. Tsetse
being cleared
451 Ikara, Zaria Low,with patches Sorghum, Cotton, None Slight gullying
LGAs of high density
around Anchau,
Dutsan Wai and
Kubau
maize,
rice,
cassava,
cowpea
•Information derived from farm sun reys described by Go. Jden (1978)
/Terms defined in Appendix 2
rice,
groundnut,
yam
on a few lower
slopes. Some
sheet erosion
**Refers to eatimated proportion of area within 5 tai oi * all-weather tarred or hard-top roads: poor m 0 - 10$, moderate. 10 - 5096, good 5°?*
Anchku Vest
Karta

TABLE 21 Soil physical limitations to the growth of certain crops in areas with three crop options: crop options indicated by shading
No. of
crop
options
Land
system
No.
3 403 141 102
PRJI/Nia/IM/W
416 SS 37
430 788 670
434 92 76 s
444 626 410 i
4S1 1339 1166
t Area
%Soil 1 mitation c ategory (SLC) by crop in each land aystem.with nature of limitation»
Area
km* Mai» Millet Sorghum Groundnut Cotton 1 Yam Rainfed rice
%cless M.„.„
ofSLC \ Nature
% cless
of SLC
SLC in lend
system
% c/ess
of SLC
in lend
system
Nature
of
limitation
% cless
of SLC
in lend
system
Nature
of
limitation
% cless
% S Nature
Naturo
of?L ê
of SLC
SLC
of SLC
of
in lend
limitation
limitation
system
6 »60 FD/ I
ÉÉlAi FDC I
6 »60 FD D/C I
, f
% class
of SLC Nature
2* SLC in lend
of SLC
limitation ""f
system
nrf Nature
of SLC
SLC
limitation
limitation
system1
1
iliil
2 30-59 t/tc IÄ :illlllll
äiäCrSSÖS
6 10-29 Wot III
Hill! B l
iïiiiii I
;||||||| 2 10-29 t
1 10-29 Nil
3 30-50 tc/w
2 10-29 c
i|ö||l:
5 10-29 wet
5 10-29 WC
|
i
iillllii 2 30-69 t/tc lis Witi&tè« iiiiiii
6 10-29 DC Wti i:ä»*SÖl
lUit illllll!
liiilsi lllll
111
2 10-29 t
1 10-29 Nil
1
Mmmm
3 30-50 te
2 30-50 c
5 10-29
5 10-29
ec fic iilllll
i
|
1 10-29 liillllllll 2 30-59 t/tc/tw siiÉS*:
2 30-50 t/c
1 10-29 Nil
5
IPiii:
iPIliill
5 10-29 DC/DWC ill Ëllïï:
3 10-29 'te
2 10-29 c
FDD./C
linn iiilllll III liÉli;:;
4 10-29 C/Cv»
3 10-29 tc/D/W
Illllll
llllllll
»1:8*2.*:
:;:§:§*!!: MiMmÊM
1 1
2 30-59 tc/t WM 30-SO lÉlllli 2 30-59 Nil
2 10-29 c/W
3 10-29 FD
•:||||:|||
5 10-29 50. ill!
si|/$|iiä|:i|i: 5 10-29 £C
3 30-59 te
5 30-59 FDc/
5 10-29 DC FDDt
llllllll
Ill
lliïa; mmmmä 2 30-59 t/tc
WmëMê
lllllll 4 10-29 C/W If! llllll
2
i
30-59 t
mm
'5 S80 FD/
4 10-29 c w nmm Climatically unsuitable
FDC
Ëllllll
2 30-59 tc/t
BSJÖSïais Wrnmm
6 10-29 DCt
IliliiSl
s;S:äää:i j 1
2 30-50 I '
:#teiïa:
1 30-59 Nil
5 S60 FD/
iÄIÄ*:
3 10-29 tc/wt liflÜI:
5 10-29 BC
FDC
lllllll
|8»£l 5 10-29 D/Ct ÄS«: !§§$$§§!
iiiii:
' Limi ations
Depth
Drainage Texture Coarse material FD-Free draining
D Sever«
> W Severe I Severe C Severe
D Mode ate W Moderate T Moderate C Moderate
d Minor
w Minor t Minor c Minor
- total area; Area
—~~
2- area to w hich data refer
'repared by La id Resources Development Centre 1978

On
TABLE 22 Dominant soil chemical characteristics assessed as limitations to crop growth for land systems with three
Land
system
crop options (based on mean values for dominant soil series excluding top horizon)
CEC meq 8 Suitable for intensive agriculture ^0.10 Adequate EH Limitations
2.0-7.9 Requires a high ratio of fallow to
crops

2. Soil chemical characteristics
In Table 22 it can be seen that chemical limitations of soils in this group
of land systems are not severe. The chief deficiency for all soils is in
their weak cation exchange capacity, a feature common to virtually all
soils on the Kaduna Plains,which implies the need for a high ratio of
fallow to crops to ensure reasonable topsoil fertility. Potash status
is adequate to good while the availability of phosphate is probably moderate
judging by the acidity of the soil. The levels of readily available phosphate
are almost certainly low, however.
Limitations to mechanical cultivation
In Table 23 are shown dominant slopes and range of slopes of the most common
land facets in the land systems. No land system has dominant slopes exceeding
3%, which is the critical limit for economic mechanized cultivation. However,
among the features which make land less useful for this purpose is a fine
drainage net which tesults in a fragmentation of suitable areas; this occurs
in Land Systems 403 and 434.
TABLE 23 Dominant slope and range of slope on major facets in areas with
Land
system
three crop options
Slope of major facet
Percent Degrees
Dominant Range Dominant Range
403 3 1-7 2 1.5-4
415 3 2-7 2 1-4
430 3 2-5 2 1-3
434 3 2-5 2 1-3
444 3 2-7 2 1-4
451 2

outcrops are commonly associated with extensive inselbergs of Land System 1 in
Land Systems 415 and 434, and in Land System 451 ironpan is common in an
otherwise suitable land system. Shallow, stony soils are commonly found on
and around ironpan areas, and to a lesser extent near rock outcrops. Land
System 403 contains mainly shallow soils, although little surface ironpan is
evident.
The most suitable facets for mechanical cultivation are side.slopes and
crestal areas. Lower slopes are generally too steep and eroded. All
land systems in this group are deficient, but Land System 451 offers the
greatest scope.
Density and distribution of cultivation
Comparing Separate Map 2 and Table 24 it can be seen that in general this
group of land system is not extensively used. Cultivation.densities are
very low to low with scattered patches of medium or high density in Land
System 444 around Yaiwa, in Land System 415 at Kwoi and in Land System 451
around Kutson Wai, Kubau and an area west of Tafiyau on the Likarbu River.
Forest reserves occupy substantial parts of Land Systems 430, 434, 444 and
451 and tsetse occur in parts of Land Systems 430, 444 and 451.
TABLE 24 Density of cultivation in areas with three crop options
Land Total area
system km 2
Land Total area
system km 2
Land Total area
system km 2
403
415
430
434
444
451
141
55
788
92
526
1 339
Land areas (km
Admin. unit
(dominant)
2 ) in
four cultivation densities
Admin. unit
(dominant)
% under cultivation
% of GO 60-35 34-10 < 10
forest
reserves
Saminaka
Jema'a
Kachia, Saminaka
Ikara, Tudun Wara
Zaria, Funtua
Zaria, Ikara
61
12
7
23
47
11
6
i:
37
237
90
39
194
26
246
840
28
3
594
81
220
215
23
27
28
70

Forestry
Poles and firewood are readily available from the natural vegetation,
except in the north-east, in the vicinity of Anchau and Dutsen Wai and at Kuba.
There is a Eucalyptus plantation in Guga Forest Reserve.
LAND SYSTEMS WITH TWO CROP OPTIONS
The main characteristics of the two land systems in this group are given
in Table 25. The physical limitations that each have are more severe than
for those of the groups described above. Together they occupy 336 km or
less than 1% of the Kaduna Plains and so are of little significance in the
regional context.
Limitations to crop growth
1. Soil physical characteristics
V
The chief drawback to cultivating Land System 412 is in the shallow depth
and gravelly coarse material in many areas which is limiting to root
penetration(Table 26). This feature is associated directly with ironpan on
crests and recemented ironpan gravel at lower slopes. Only yam and millet
are believed to be suitable crops in these conditions.
Tn Land System 439 poor drainage is a localised feature of lava flow
surfaces and sides. Such conditions are severely limiting for all the
crops under consideration except yam,which is grown on ridges or mounds,
and rice which would benefit from the availability of ground water after
the end of the rainy period. In addition to poor subsoil drainage some
soils on the lava flows have much coarse material within rooting depth.
Texture in the two land systems is not a limitation to yam or rice.
62

TABLE 25 Summary of main characteristics of areas with two crop options
Present cropping*
Land Crop
Density of of
Draught Draught
Occurrence
system options cultivation animals
Food Cash
412 Millet, Jema'a
yam Kachia
LG areas
439 Yam,
rice
Low Sorghum, Ginger
dauro, yam,
yam, sorghum,
acha; acha,
maize pepper
Moderate to Sorghum, Yam,
high in dauro, sorghum,
vicinity of maize, soya,
Kagoro yam, maize,
Kafanchan
and Tum
acha groundnut
State of
erosion/
None Mod.
gullying
on a few
lower
slopes.
Some sheet
erosion
None
observed
Communications//
Rangeland
and cattle
Poor Year-round
grazing
possible but
mainly dryseason
at
present
Good Year-round
grazing
possible but
increasing
cultivation
restricts
grazing to
mainly dryseason
•Information derived from farm surveys described by Gosden (1978)
/Terms defined in Appendix 2
//Refers to estimated proportion of area within 5 km of all-weather, tarred or hard-top roads: poor 0-10%,
mod. 10-50%, good 50%
Forestry
No forest
reserves
Kafanchan
Kurmi (teak
and Gmelina
plantation)

TABLE 26 Soil physical limitations to the growth of certain crops in areas with two crop options: crop options indicated by shading
No. of
crop
options
Land
system
No.
1 f
Area
%Soil limitation category (SLC) by crop in each land eystem.with nature of limitation*
km» Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnut Cotton Yam Rainfed rice
2 f
SLC
2 412 116 78 2
3
'5
439 220 178 1
3
4
% class
of SLC
in land
system
30-60
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
30-59
Nature
of
limitation SLC
c Nil
C Nil
DC
Nil
C
C/W/Wt
*
Xclass
of SLC
in land
system
* M
2
3
4
10-29
10-29
30-59
Nature
of
limitation SLC
Nil
ct/wt
ct/wt/w
2
3
5
1
4
% class M,,„„
of SLC NMur«
in land |imi°„j0n
system
30-50
10-29
10-29
10-29
30-59
c
C
at
Nil
C/W/Wt
SLC
3
5
2
3
4
* class
of SLC
in land
system
30-69
10-29
10-29
10-29
30-59
Nature
of
limitotion SLC
tc/tC 3
5
t
ct
Ct/yy/yyt
1
4
% class
of SLC
in land
system
30-59
10-29
10-29
30-59
Nature
of
limitation
Nil
P.C.
SLC
I
% class
of SLC
in tand
system
30-8* m
Nature
of
limitetion SLC
Nil
c/w/wt % «j'fr m 1
S
% class
of SLC
in land
system
Nature
of
limitation
6 ?80 FD/
FDDC
* Limitations Depth Drainage Texture Coarse material FD-Free draining
'Area 1 - total area; Area 2- area to which data refer
D Severe W Severe T Severe C Severe
D Moderate W Moderate T Moderate C Moderate
d Minor w Minor t Minor c Minor
PRBI/NIS/IH/W Prepared by Land Resources Development Centre 1978
m

CTi
U1
TABLE 27 Dominant soil chemical characteristics assessed as limitations to crop growth for land systems with two
Land
system
412
439
crop options (based on mean values for dominant soil series excluding top horizon)
CEC meq %
*
3.9-6.1
8.9-12.5
Exch. K
meg % /•
0.1-0.3
0.2
pH
5.1-6.0
5.3-6.0
Limitations due to pH for
Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnut s Cotton .. Yam
Nil-Mod
Nil-Minor
* CEC m eg iowhole soil(cation exchange capacity
>8
2.0-7.9

2. Soil chemical characteristics
As can be seen from Table 27, there appear to be no major chemical deficiencies
in the soils of these land systems. However, soils in Land System 412 have a
low cation exchange capacity, requiring either frequent additions of fertiliser
or extensive fallow periods to maintain satisfactory nutrient levels. The
higher exchange capacities of soils in Land System 439 are unusually high for
this region and it is inferred from this that they lend themselves to more
intensive cultivation with shorter fallow; their potash levels are satisfactory
and phosphate availability is theoretically adequate within the pH range
recorded.
Limitations to mechanical cultivation
Both land systems are considered unsuitable for mechanized, large-scale
farming as the soils have severe limitations and are only suitable for two
of the major crops under consideration. In addition, the dominant slope
of Land System 412 (Table 28) exceeds the limit of 3% for economical,
mechanized cultivation, although small gently sloping areas of crests and
side slopes could be cultivated without inducing accelerated erosion.
Land System 439 contains extensive, almost flat areas of lava flow which
are topographically suitable for mechanical cultivation and which are
largely free of boulder and rock outcrops, ironpan, and gullies. However,
poorly drained areas occur which would require drainage prior to the
cultivation of all crops but rice. The extent of these poorly drained
soils is not known.
TABLE 28 Dominant slope and range of slopes on major facets in areas with
Land
system
412
439
two crop options
Slopes of major facet
Percent Degree
Dominant Range Dominant Range
7
1
3-10
0-2
66
4
0.5
2-6
O-l

Density and distribution of cultivation
Land System 412 is highly cultivated, while Land System 439 has a moderate
to dense cultivation pattern at and near Kafanchan, especially following the
road net (Table 29). Both land systems are unaffected by tsetse fly and
only marginally by forest reserves (see Separate Map 2).
TABLE 29 Density of cultivation in areas with two crop options
Land Total area
system km 2
Land Total area
system km 2
Land Total area
system km 2
412
439
Forestry
116
220
Admin- unit
(dominant)
Kachia, Jema'a
Kachia, Jema'a 64
Land areas (km 2 ) in
four cultivation densities
% under cultivation % of 60 60-35 34-10

TABLE 30 Summary of main characteristics of areas with one crop option
Land
system
Crop
options
401 Yam Fed.Cap.Ter.
Kachia,Jema'a
LG areas
408
413
417
423
Occurence Density of cultivation
Saminaka
LG area
Kachia,
Saminaka
IG area
Kachia
LG area
Very low, locally low Sorghum,
dauro,
acha,
yams
. Very low Sorghum,
dauro,
acha,
maize,
rice,
yams
Very low, low with
small area's of
moderate density near
Ruma
Low Dauro,
sorghum/
maize,
acha.
yam
Jema'a, Kachia Low, with patch of
moderate and high
density
Present cropping* Draught
animals
Pood Cash
Sorghum,
dauro.,
acha.,
yam
Ginger,
Jorghum,
acha.soya
Cotton,
rice,
groundnut,
yam
Groundnut,
ginger,
soya,
peppers,
yam
Ginger,
rice,
groundnut,
soya
State of erosion+ Communications** Rangeland and cattle Forestry
None Slight gullying on
a few lower slopes
Mod. to severe
gullying on many
lower slopes.Some
sheet erosion
Mod. gullying on
a few lower slopes.
Some sheet erosion
None observed Good
* Information derived from farm surveys described by Gosden (in prep.)
+ Terms defined in Appendix 2
*•* Refer to estimated proportion of area within 5 Ion of all-*;eather tarred or hard-top roads = poor 0-10$, mod 10-50$, good > 50$
Poor
Year-round grazing possible
but mainly dry season at
present
Satisfactory wet-eeason
grazing after tsetse
eradicated
Koderate Year-round grazing
possible but mainly
dry season at present
Zuma Hills
Akwana East
No forest
reserves
Ribako
Mai Ido
No forest
reserves

Limitation to crop growth
1. Soil physical characteristics
Reference to Table 31 will show that in Land Systems 408 and 413 depth
of soil is severely limiting for the crops being considered. Poor drainage
and coarse material reduce the value of Land Systems 401 and 443, while
excessive coarse material, mainly in the form of lateritic gravel, is
common in soils of all land systems.
2. Soil chemical characteristics
It can be seen from Table 32 that for all land systems a lengthy fallow period
is required to maintain soil fertility. Potash levels appear to be
adequate and phosphate availability, as inferred from the pH level, is
moderate. It is probable, however, that the phosphate amount in the soils
is low.
Limitation to mechanical cultivation
Land systems with less than three crop options are not recommended for
large-scale mechanical cultivation. In Table 33 the dominant slopes of
major facets are shown to be less than 3% in all but Land System 401, which
on this count is unsuitable for fully mechanized farming. Fragmentation of
land by numerous gullies occurs in parts of Land System 413.only. Rock
outcrops, however, greatly reduce the available area in Land Systems 401 and
413, while ironpan caps have been observed in many parts of Land System 413.
69

TABLE 31 Soil physical limitations to the growth of certain crops in areas with one crop option: crop options indicated by shading
No. of
crop
options
Land
system
No.
Area
km 2
1* 2 f
SLC
1 408 248 178 2
5
413 1210 932 . 1
2
5
417 147 94 1
3
4
423 150 104 2
4
401 859 481 1
2
4
% class
of SLC
in land
system
30-59
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
30-59
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
%Soil limitation category (SLC) by crop in each land system,with nature of limitation*
Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnut Cotton Yam Rainfed rice
Nature
of
limitation
SLC
t 2
Nil
c/w
9£
Nil
wc
£
c
£
Nil
c
Wc
5
2
5
2
. 4
2
4
2
4
%class
of SLC
in land
system
30-59
10-29
30-59
10-29
30-50
10-29
30-S9
10-29
30-50
10-29
Nature
of
limitation
tc
fi£
t/tc
DC
t/tc
£t
tc
£
tc/t
cywtc
SLC
2
5
1
2
5
1
2
4
2
4
1
2
% class
of SLC
in land
system
30-59
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
30-59
10-29
10-29
10-29
Nature
of
limitation
c
B£
SLC
3
Nil
c
DC *
Nil
t
£
c
C
Nil
c
'
% class
of SLC
in land
system
30-59
10-29
30-50
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
30-59
10-29
2 10-29
10-29
Nature
of
limitation
tc
ߣ
t
tc
6£
t
tc
Ct
tc/tC
c
t
tc/wc/tC
SLC
% class
of SLC
in land
system
30-59
10-29
10-29
10-29
10-29
Neture
of
limitation
c
Q£
Nil
c
ßC
10-29
30-50 Q/WC
30-50
30-50
c
DC.
SLC
1
5
4
1
4
1
4
% class
of SLC
in land
system
30-69
KM»
30-59
10-29
30-56 Mil
S
Nature
of
limitation
SLC
% class
of SLC
in land
system
Nature
of
limitation
5 »60 FDC/
FDDC
Nit 6 »80 FD/
FDDC
5 960 FD/
FD/g
30-69 Nil 5 »60 FD/
FDC
'
* Limitations Depth Drainage Texture Coarse material FD-Free draining
10-29
10-29
10-29
P Severe W Severe T Severe C Severe
D Moderate W Moderate T Moderate C Moderate
d Minor w Minor t Minor c Minor
Nil
C
C
1
4
30-59
ÏP-39
N4
C
5 30-59 FD/
ea 1 - total area; Area 2- area to which data refer I
PRsi/NiG/iH/U Prepared by Land Resources Development Centre 1978
FDC

TABLE 32 Dominant-soil chemical characteristics assessed as limitations to crop growth for land systems with one
Land
system
401
408
413
417
423
crop option (based on mean values for dominant soil series excluding top horizon)
CEC meq %
*
,2-7.1
,9-5.8
,9-7.1
.9-7.1
,9-6.0
Exch. K
meq % /•
0.3
0.2-0.3
0.1-0.3
0.1-0.3
0.2-0.3
pH
5.5-5.9
5.1-5.6
5.0-6.0
5.1-5.9
5.1-5.9
Limitations due to pH for
Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnut s Cotton Yam Availability
**
Nil
Nil-Mod
Nil-Mod
Nil-Mod
Nil-Mod
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil-Minor
Nil-Minor
Nil-Minor
Nil-Minor
Nil
Nil-Minor
Nil-Minor
Nil-Minor
Nil-Minor
* CEC meq % whole soilfcation exchange capacity) /" K meq ^for soils of pH > 4.5
>8 Suitable for intensive agriculture $^0.10 Adequate
2,0-7,9 Requires a high ratio of fallow to < O..IO Deficient
crops

TABLE 33 Dominant slope and range of slopes on major facets in areas with
Land
system
401
408
413
417
423
one crop option
Slopes of major facet
Percent Degrees
Dominant Range Dominant Range
7
• 3
Density and distribution of cultivation
3
2
3
3-10
2-7
2-5
0-3
2-5
All areas are only lightly used for cultivation, with the exception of land
around Pambegua, Gidan Gayan and New Kitimi in Land System 413, and Fadan
Kagoma in Land System 423. Separate Map 2 shows the distribution of
cultivation by four density classes. Forest reserves occupy major parts of
Land System 401 and 413 and other parts of Land System 413 may be little used
because of tsetse infestation.
TABLE 34 Density of cultivation in areas with one crop option
Land Total area
system km 2
Land Total area Admin, unit
system km (dominant)
2
Land Total area Admin, unit
system km (dominant)
2
Admin, unit
(dominant)
401
408
413
417
423
859
248
1 210
147
150
FCT Kachia
Saminaka
Kachia,
Saminaka
Kachia
Jema'a
4
2
1.5
1
2
2-6
1-4
1-3
0-2
1-3
Land areas (km^) in
four cultivation densities
% under cultivation % of 60 60-35 34-10 «ao
forest
reserves
2
16
14
72
4'
116
4
36
218
28
547
99
92
634
216
531
44
8
39
20

Forestry
Poles and firewood are available from the natural vegetation.
LAND SYSTEMS WjTH MODERATE OR SEVERE LIMITATIONS TO ARABLE CROPS
The one land system (LS 443) that is considered in general to be
unsuitable for any of the selected crops is described in Table 35. It contains
many areas of ironpan over which soil properties are inadequate for crops.,
apart from yam where sufficient soil can be scraped into mounds or ridges.
Unfortunately even this means of production is denied as Land System 443
lies entirely north of the climatic limit for yam production.
o
The area totals 270 km in Ikara Local Government yftrea on the northern
boundary of the Kaduna Plains. .
Limitations to crop growth
1. Soil physical characteristics
In Table 36 the limitations of coarse material and depth are shown to be
severe for all crops in the dominant soils. IronDan outcrops and
associated shallow, gravelly soils are widespread both on crestal sites
and lower slopes. Small areas of side slopes have also impeded subsoil
drainage that would be harmful to cotton in particular. Intervening land
on side slopes has minor coarse material and textural limitations for
some crops.
2. Soil chemical characteristics
The analysed chemical properties of dominant soils in Land System 443
(Table 37) are normal for the region. The cation exchange capacity is low
and the soils require a lengthy fallow or regular fertilizing to obtain
satisfactory fertility. The pH range of 5.O to 5.2 indicates rather poor
phosphate availability. Potash levels are good.
73

TABLE 35 Summary of main characteristics of area with moderate or severe limitations to arable crops
Land Crop
system option Occurrence
Density Present cropping/
Land Crop
of culti­
system option
vation
Occurrence
Density
of cultivation
Food Cash
443 • nil Ikara High Sorghum, gero,
dauro, maize
cassava
Groundnuts,
sorghum,
peppers,
cassava
Draught
animals
State of
erosion*
Few Slight lower
slope
gullying.
Some sheet
erosion
Communication**
Rangeland
and cattle Forestry
Rangeland
and cattle Forestry
Good Mainly
wet-season
grazing
•Terms defined in Appendix 2
/Information derived from farm surveys described by Gosden. (in prep.)
**Refers to estimated proportion of area within 5 km of all-weather tarred or hard-top roads: poor 0-10%,
mod. 10-50%, good >50%
Nasarawa

-j
TABLE 36 Soil physical limitations to the growth of certain crops in areas with moderate or severe limitations to arable crops
Land
system
Area, km^
1/ 2/
443 270 211
* Limitations
SLC *
2
5
/ Area 1 - total a rea;
$ Soil limitation category (SLC) by crop in each land system with nature of limitation*
Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnut s Cotton Yam Rainfed rice
30-50
30-50
Nature
of
lm'tion
c
DC/DC
SLC %
2
5
30-50
30-50
Dep th Drainage
D Severe W Severe
D Moderate W Moderate
d Minor w Minor
Nature
of
lm'tion
tc/t
DC/DC
Areas 2 - area to which data refer
SLC i
2
5
30-50
30-50
Nature
of
lm'tion
C
DC/DC
SLC *
3
4
5
30-50
10-29
10-29
Nature
of
lm'tion
tc
tc/w
DC7"D C
SLC •
Texture Coarse material PD = Free draining
T Severe C Severe
T Moderate C Moderate
t Minor c Minor
5
*
>60
Nature
of
lm'tion
D/C
DC
SLC %
1
5
30-59
Nature
of
lm'tion
10-29 • DC
SLC $
5
>60
Nature
of
lm'tion
FD
FD C

TABLE 37 Dominant-soil chemical characteristics assessed as limitations to crop growth for land systems with moderate
or severe limitation to- arable crops (based on mean values for dominant soil series excluding top horizon)
Land
system
443
CEC meq %
*
5.0-5.4
Exch. K
meq % f°
0.2-0„3
pH
5.0-5.2
Maize
Minor-Mod
Millet
Nil
Sorghum
Nil-Minor
Limitations due to pH for
Groundnuts
Nil-Minor
* CEC meq; f> whole soil(cation exchange capacity) "f° K meq^forsoils of pH > 4.5
>8 Suitable for intensive agriculture
2.0—7.9 Requires a high ratio of fallow
to crops

Limitations to mechanical cultivation
Land systems with less than three crop options are not recommended for
'I £ ~ .:•;. r. : • - • • , '
large scale mechanical cultivation. The dominant slope of the major
facet (Table 38) is within the limit of 3% imposed by economic restraints
for fully mechanized, large-scale farming, but the presence of ironpan and
associated shallow stony soils over large areas entirely negates this
advantage. Small areas may be suitable for farming with mechanized
assistance. Rock outcrops have not been recorded.
TABLE 38 Dominant slope and range of slopes of major facet in area
Land
system
•H:.e' :
with no moderate or severe limitation to arable crops
Slopes of major facet
Percent Degrees
Dominant Range Dominant Range
443 3 2-5 1.5 1-3
Density and distribution of cultivation
In spite of its overall physical limitations, the land system is densely
cultivated around Wamba, Mayare and Gubuchi (see Separate Map 2 and
Table 39). The cultivation, however, is selective and all areas of ironpan
are ignored.
TABLE 39 Density of cultivation in area with moderate or severe
Land
system
limitations to arable crops
Total area
km 2
Total area Admin.unit
km (dominant)
2
Total area Admin.unit
km (dominant)
2
Admin.unit
(dominant)
Land areas (km 2 ) in
four cultivation densities
% under
cultivation
>60 60-35 34-10 ^.10
% of

Forestry
The land system is extensively cultivated with little opportunity for cutting
firewood and poles from the natural vegetation. There are no plantations in
nearby Kurmin Kogi and Nasarawa Forest Reserves.
LAND SYSTEM UNSUITABLE FOR ARABLE CROPS
This group of three land systems (LS 1, 2 and 102) is essentially unsuitable
for arable crops in the conventional sense as limitations for crop
production are too severe. This combined area is small, however, totalling
1 824 km or 5% of the Kaduna Plains. They occur largely in associated
blocks in the southern part of the plains, particularly bordering the Jos
Plateau and eastern Jema'a Platform.
Limitations to crop growth
The general absence of soil and occurrence of bare rock over most of Land
Systems 1, 2 and 102 precludes the growth of crops except in very small,
isolated patches. In addition, steep erodible slopes exceeding 6° are
dominant.
Density and distribution of cultivation
Reference to Separate Map 2 shows that almost all these areas are
sparsely cultivated. They are, however, extensively used for grazing, and
for firewood collection where located near centres of population.
78

Part 4

Part 4 Development possibilities
TYPES OF DEVELOPMENT
Various types of agricultural development have been considered with
reference to the Third National Development Plan, 1975-80, and after
discussions with federal and state authorities and the staff of research
institutes in Nigeria. The definitions given in Table .40 and in the
following sections of this report are based on these discussions and
experience of similar development projects in Nigeria. Areas where the
types of development are most appropriate are shown in Table 41, both by
land systems and administrative units, and in Text Maps 5.10-5.16. Similarly,
areas having minimal environmental limitations for particular crops are
shown in Table 42, by land systems and administrative units. It is stressed
that the different development possibilities have been assessed solely on
environmental criteria. No attempt has been made to rank them in economic
terms. It is further emphasised that social and related factors, which may
be vitally important in development projects, have not been considered. It
is assumed for capital-intensive, technologically complex projects that
only the highest quality management will suffice.
ASSESSMENT OF AREAS FOR PARTICULAR TYPES OF DEVELOPMENT
Any of the forms of development considered here should result in increased
agricultural production almost anywhere in the Kaduna Plains, but to be
most effective it should be located in areas where environmental and present
land use limitations are at a minimum. In assessing whether an area is
suitable for a particular type of development, the following factors have
been considered within the framework of land systems:
Climate
Size and distribution of the land system
Soil limitations to crop growth
Slopes in relation to erosion hazard
Distribution and intensity of present cultivation
Present farming systems
79

TABLE 40 Types of agricultural development
1. Integrated
agriculture
2. Mechanised farming
Type of development Summary definition of development
3. Traditional grazing
4. Grazing reserves
(a) In densely
cultivated areas
(b) In sparsely
cultivated areas
5« Cattle ranotes and dairy farming
6//. Production
forestry
6. Development for production
of timber
Development for
production of
firewood and
poles
8. Protection forestry, reservation to
protect areas against erosion or
strict conservation resource*
Establishment of integrated agricultural development projects aimed at increasing existing agricultural production per ha by
improving infrastructure (communications, supply of agricultural inputs, produce marketing, credit facilities and extension
service coverage). Run by a semi-autonomous project authority and making use of self-help wherever possible. Allied to general
improvement of social services.
As above but also able to increase production by increasing the area under cultivation and/or introducing 'mixed farming'.
Establishment of large mechanised farms (? 1 000 ha) requiring a high level of management expertise and mechanisation of all
stages of production from,land preparation to harvest. Good planning and adequate conservation measures are essential. Limited
to sparsely cultivated areas.
Improvement of traditional grazing including control of herd numbers, the elimination of unregulated loppirg and the introduction
of forage species into natural grassland. These measures, together with the establishment of grazing reserves and the allocation
of grazing rights, are components of a suggested programme to be organised at inter-State level. Limited to sparsely cultivated areaa.
Establishment of reserves in the major traditional wet find dry season grazing areas and along migration routes, with additional
reserves within areas free or being freed of tsetse by the eradication programme. Provision of adequate water supplies, veterinary
services and improved natural grassland, coupled with strict control of stock numbers. Limited to sparsely cultivated areas.
Establishment of ranches for 'growing out' cattle drawn from Pulani herd. Stock numbers restricted to 2 000 head until the
viability of the ranch is established. Area not less than 2 000 ha per 1 000 head of cattle, with 1 200 ha for wet season and
early dry.season grazing and 800 ha for fodder grass to provide additional dry season roughage. Supplementary dry season feeding
by cottonseed, cottonseed cake, groundnut cake, brewers grains or molasses as available. Limited to sparsely cultivated areas.
Establishment of dairy herds of not more than 100 milking cows. Total area not less than 250 ha, with 130 ha improved pastures for
wet and dry-season grazing and 50 ha to provide additional dry season feed, supplemented by locally available concentratpp and crop
residues.
Development financed and managed by Government and covering a few to 100 ha in one location, usually for sawn timber production for
local use, alternatively by a commercial company at minimum annual planting rate of 400 ha for sawn timber or pulp. Confined to
forest reserves.
(a) Production by State and Federal Departments in forest reserves.
(b) Production by farmers on small woodlots, backed by extension service and management of indigenous forests
(c) Extraction from areas of natural vegetation in forest reserves
Protection of existing and establishment of new forest reserves in areas with slopes greater than 10$ (6°) where conservation is
required.
Protection required only in parts of area.

TABLI A4 Agricultural development possibilities in relation to administrative units and land systems in the Kaduna Plains
Land systems suitable for different types of development - -
Administrative 1. Integrated agriculture
2
5. 7. Firewood and poles production from -
3. * 4. Cattle ranc v (a) In densely b) In sparsely •feonanised
Cattle ranc es 6
Traditional grazing a-d dairy
8.
v es
a-d dairy Timbet1(a) Forest reserves (b) (=) Protection
cultivated cultivated farming and grasing reserves farming
Farmers Natural forestry
areas
areas
Name W
voodlots vegetatior
Kaduna State
Birnln Gvarl 418,421,422, 418,422,
LG area 426 426
Funtua 421,422,426, 418,421,422 418,422, 421,422,426,444,449 421,422,426, - Tudun Iya 449 421,422,
LG area 449,450 426,444,449 426,449 444,449 Tumburkai. 449 449,450,
426
Ikara 425,429,445, 425,429,434, 448,451, 413,425,429,431,434, 425,429,434, _ Nasarava 443,448 443,448 425 1,2
LG area 448,450,451, 445,448,450, 425,429, 436,443,445,448,450, 448,445,451, Guaraka 448 450,451
451 434,445, 451 450,431 Ancnau V. 448,451
102
448,450,
Kurmin Kog: 443,448
451
Gulma Rlv« 413,425
Jena'a 422,431,436, 410,415,422, 422,438 410,412,415,422,423, 410,415,422, 404, 422,431, 1,2,102,
LG area 437,438,439, 435,436.437, 431,436,437,438,439, 431,436,437, 439 - - 436,437, - 401,404,
440 438 440 438,440 438,439 435
Kachia 416,431,435, 402,405,406, 411,419, 405,406,409,410,411, 406,409,410, 406, Kagarko 420,404 416,424 401,402, 1,2,102,
LG area 440 409,410,411, 422,424, 412,413,416,417,419, 411,416,419, 419, Kabara 420 439,440 406,411, 401,404,
416,419,420, 427,428, 420,422,424,427,428, 420,422,424, 420, Kubacha 404 413,418, 435,405,
421,422,424, 429,431, 429,431,433,436,438, 427,428,429, 427, Bayide 422 422,428, 402,409
427,428,429, 432,433, 439,440 431,433,436, 428 Kurmin Bi 422 430,432,
430,431,432,
433,434,435,
438,439,
440
- 438,440 Kaguru
Tukuruwa
422
422
429
436,438,440 Kakau
Mando N,
Mando S.
Chaval Esc
Libere
Doks Hills
Mai Ido
422
421,422
421.422
431.435
438
418 429
430
430
413,422
Kuftnln Btrl 432
Akvana E 411.422
V 419,428
Rahama Esc 436. 438
Kaduna, - . - - - - - . 422,446 - -
LG areas
Saminaka 405,407,414, 402,403,405, 414,418, 403,405,407,413,414, 403,405,407, Bakin Kogi 424,441 407,414 418,429 1,2,402,
LG area 424,425,431,
435
407,414,418,
424,425,429,
424,425,
429,431,
424,425,429,431,433, 414,424,425,
436 429,431,433,
. Kurmin Mai 414 431
414,431
435
430,431,433, 433
436
418
HI
IllllJll
Zarta 422,444,445, 418,422,426, 418,422, 422,426,429, 422,426,429, 422, Idasu 422 443, 413,422, .
LG area 446,447,448, 429,444,445, 426,429, 444,445,446,. 444,445,446, 426, Fatika 422 447,449 429,446,
449,451 446,447,448, 445,448, 447,448,449, 447,448,449, 446 Kakangi 422,444 451
449,451,402 449,451 451 451 444
444
446
446
422
422
413,429
429,446
447,451
Niger State 406,428 402,405.406, . 419,427, 405,406,419,427,428, 405,406,419, 406, _ _ 406,428 _ 1,2,401,
427,428,436, 428 436 427,428,436 428 402,*06
438
Plateau State
Barakin ladi 437,438 435.437,438 - 437,438 437,438 - - _ 438 _ 404,435
LG area
Bassa 431,435 403,431,435 403-431, 403,431 - Jere 434 431 _ 1.2,435
LG area •
" Limoro
Chokobo 431 434
Keffl - 420 _ 420.436 420.436 _ _ 404 1,2,401.
LC area 102.402,
404
Toro 414,431 414,431,435 414,431 . 414,431 414,431 _ _ „
LG area
Kano State
G var BO 450 _ . _
LG area
»31 1.435 .
- . - . • Tudun Vada
LG area
414,425 414,425 414,425 414,425 414,425 - - 414,425 _ - 1
Ped. Cao. Terr. - 406,419,420,
428,436
406,419,
428
406,419,420,428,436 406,419,420,
428,436
- - „ _ _ 401
81

TABLE U2 Land systems with few limitations to the growth of particular crops, in relation to administrative units
Administration unit
Kaduna State
Birnin (Atari LG are«. 418,421,422
446
Funtua LG area
Land system
Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnut Cotton Yam*
418,421,422
426,444,449,
450
Ikara Iß area 425,429,434
436,445,448,
450,451
Jama'a LG area 402,404,410
415,416,422
431,435,436
437,438,440
Kachia LG area 402,404,405
406,409,410
411,416,418
419,420,421
422,424,427
428,429,430
431,432,433
435,436,438
440
418,421,422
446
418,421,422
426,449,450
425,429,445
448,450
402,404,410,
412,422,431
435,438,440
402,404,405
406,409,410
418,419,420
421,422,427
428,429,431
432,433,435
436,^438,440
418,421,422
446
418,421,422
426,444,449
450
425,429,434
436,445,448
451
402,404,410
415,416,422
431,435,436
437,438,440
402,404,405
406,409,410
411,416,418
419,420,421
422,424,427
428,429,430
431,432,433
434,435,436
438,440
418,421,422
446
418,421,422
426,449
425,429,445
448
402,422,435
440
402,406,418
420,421,422
427,429,433
435,440
418,421,422
446
418,421,422
426,444,449
450
425,429,436
445,448,450
451
402,404,416
422,431,435
436,437,440
410
402,404,405
406,409,411
416,418,419
420,421,422
424,427,428
429,431,432
433,435,436
440, 410
Kaduna LG area 422 422 422 422 422 422
Saminaka LG area 402,403,405
414,418,424
425,429,430
431,433,435
436
Zaria LG area 418,422,426
429,444,445
446,447,448
449,451
Niger State 402,404,405
406,419,427
428,436
Plateau State
Barakin Ladi LG area 404,435,437
438
Bassa LG area 403,431,434
435
402,405,414
418,425,429
431,433,435
418,422,426
429,445,446
447,448,449
402,404,405
406,419,427
428
402,403,405
407,414,418
424,425,429
430,431,433
435,436
418,422,426
429,444,445
446,447,448
449,451
402,404,405
406,419,427
428,436
404,435,438 404,435,437
438
431,435 403,431,434
435
402,405,407
418,425,429
433,435
418,422,426
429,445,446
447,448,449
402,405,406
427
402,405,418
424,425,429
431,433,435
436
418,422,426
429,444,445
446,447,448
449,451
402,404,405-
406,419,427
428,436
418,421,422
446
418,421,422
413,425,429
434,436,445
401,402,404
410,412,415
416,422,423
431,435,436
437,438,439
440
402,404,405
406,409,410
411,412,413
416,417,418
419,420,421
422,423,424
427,428,429
430,431,432
433,435,436
438,439,440
402,403,405
407,407,413
414,418,424
425„429,430
431,433,435
436
413,418,422
429,445
402,404,405
406,419,427
428,436
404,435 404,435,437 404,435,437
438
435 431,435 403,431,434
435
Keffi LG area 404,420,436 404,420 404,420,436 420 404,420,436 401,404,420
436
Toro LG area 414,431,434
435
414,431,435 414,431,434
435
Kano State
Gwarzo LG area 450 450 450 450
435 431,435 414,431,434
435
Tudun Wada LG area 414,425 414,425 414,425 425 425 414,425
Fed Cap.Terr 404,406,419
420,428,436
404,406,419
420,428
404,406,419
420,428,436
406,420 404,406,419
420,428,436
401,404,406
419,420,428
436
* Refer to Separate Maps 2 and 3 for northern, climatically unsuitable areas in pome administrative units
82

Present grazing status and cattle movements
Existing forestry activities
Significant factors with regard to agricultural development on the
Kaduna Plains are as follows:
1. Extensive areas are environmentally suitable for several major crops,
large-scale mechanised farming, rural development projects, cattle
and forestry
2. The cultivation density, and hence inferred population density, is
low, except on the borders with the Kano Plains, Jos Plateau and
around Kaduna
3. Tsetse fly remains to be eradicated over central and north-western
areas
4. The existing densely settled and cultivated Kano Plains immediately
to the north and the establishment of the Federal Capital Territory
immediately to the south will create increasing demands for food,
grazing, firewood and manure/compound refuse (fertiliser) from the
Kaduna Plains
5. The climate, specifically the length of the rainy period, is
inadequate for yams in the northern plains and for certain forestry
plantation species
6. Road communications are in general moderate, in that large areas lie
within 5 km of a hard-top road or are served by reasonably good
dirt roads
7. The current level of agriculture is one of an intricate, labour-
intensive, family-based subsistence economy with limited cash crop
production, largely in balance with the environment.
83

1. INTEGRATED AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
(CRITERIA; areas with three or more crop options, dominant slopes less
than 10%, no severe gullying, no large areas of rock or ironpan)
An integrated agricultural development project* involves the concentration
of agricultural, medical and educational resources in selected areas with
associated improvement in services and communications. Although only the
agricultural aspects of such a project are discussed in this report, it
must be emphasised that these aspects cannot be considered in isolation,
as successful development is dependent on improvements in the whole range
of rural services.
These projects can be established either in intensively cultivated areas
or in places where there is room for the expansion of the land under
cultivation (Text Map 5. lO) . The structure of the project can be similar
in both cases, but in the former any increase in agricultural production
must come from increased yields and intensification of the present farming
system7while in the latter there could be a different emphasis on the
means of crop production because of the greater area of land available.
The alternatives have implicitly different aims. Thus, intensively
cultivated areas in this part of Nigeria are invariably well populated;
the farming populace have already achieved a measure of success through
agricultural skill and cooperation that is largely restrained from increas­
ing productivity by a lack of timely inputs, such as fertiliser and seed,
and facilities such as credit and all-weather roads. Their land is
generally, but not necessarily, good,being suitable for at least three of the
considered crops. The chances of successfully raising the output in this
kind of situation are, therefore, high and short term. Practical
minimum and maximum area limits for such projects are probably in the order
2 2
of 1 OOO km and 10 000 km .
Alternatively, an area could be selected with low cultivation density, and
low overall population density. It may be an area with poor agricultural
*While being similar in concept to the World Bank rural development
projects, such as the one already in operation at Funtua, there are features
discussed here which differ in detail.
84

KADUNA PLAINS
TEXT MAP 5.10
FOREST RESERVES FOR PRODUCTION OF FIREWOOD AND POLES,
AND AREAS REQUIRING EXTENSION FORESTRY
10°00' 10°00'
9°30' 9°30'
. __. Report area boundary •ir Local government headquarters
Major road
o Town
. Minor road or track o Village
M . Railway
9°00'l_
I
j 9°00'
7°00' 7°30' 8°00' °30' 9°00'
30
I ,
„ Kilometres
0 30
J L_
1:1.500.000
D.O.S. 3271K Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
8°30'
60
_J
11°30'
11°00'

potential because of inferior environment;or low internal and external
accessibility which denies the availability of infrastructural facilities
when they are most required. In this study, however, areas are only
excluded which, on environmental grounds, limit too severely the choice of
crops that can be grown - namely, land systems having two crop options or
less (see Part 3)5 these basically comprise areas with much rock outcrop,
ironpan, shallow stony soils and poorly drained land.
Because of the low population density, a significantly increased production
must rely on extending the land under cultivation largely through
mechanized assistance or an increased use of ox-drawn implements. It may
be necessary to encourage people to move onto the area, when tsetse fly may
need to be eliminated, road networks established and bush cleared. Compared
with the first alternative, the chances of successfully raising output are
equally high, given the same degree of committment, but the time scale may
be considerably longer. The desirable area limits for such projects may
2 2
be as little as 2 COO km and as much as 10 OOO km .
Such projects should be administered by a semi-autonomous project
authority and involve the improvement of infrastructures, concentration of
extension services and creation of farmers' organisations. They also
include some degree of mechanisation, supply of agricultural inputs,
arrangement of credit and marketing facilities, as well as associated
services such as water supply and health. Experience at Funtua has
shown that project proposals must be fully explained to the local popula­
tion and located only where their full cooperation is ensured. These
factors are discussed below.
Project authority A semi-autonomous project authority should be
established to co-ordinate and implement all aspects of the development
programme. It should include local farmer representation from the
beginning and have the long-term objective of being run entirely by
local people with government advice, either as a continuing entity or as
separately-run but interlinked functional organisations.
In fras truc ture Roads, water supplies, marketing and storage facilities
should be provided before the full-scale injection of agricultural inputs,
85

though some inputs should be made available at an early date to establish
credibility with the farming community.
Staffing Extension staff trained on the project should be located in the
villages. Initially the ratio of extension staff to farming families should
not exceed 1:500, but once new techniques have been accepted the ratio can
be increased and extension staff made available for similar projects else­
where or the expansion of the project area itself.
Size of holding The farms can be either fixed, single-area holdings, as
is becoming the case in densely settled areas, or scattered, impermanent
plots in the bush-fallow system,as is the general case in the Kaduna
Plains. They should be large enough to enable the farmer to make a
minimum income that will counteract the attraction of moving to an urban
area; that is, at least equal to the income of most daily-paid Government
employees, about N740 in 1976. Norman (1972) has shown that most farmers
derive about 22% of their total income from off-farm activities during
the dry season in the Zaria area. This would be considered supplementary
to the basic income.
The minimum size of holding needed to produce an income of N740 has been
calculated using data from IAR socioeconomic studies in the Zaria area.
The size of holding has been calculated for farms using hand labour only;
for farms using family labour and two draught oxen; and for farms using
family labour, oxen and herbicides. Maize, sorghum, groundnuts, cowpeas
and cotton have been considered as the main crops. It is assumed that
a single crop is grown which gives the maximum net return per unit area.
The various farm sizes under these conditions are given in Appendix 3;
details of the calculations are given by Mansfield in Miscellaneous Report
233 (in prep.) .
The figures show that the minimum size of holding for a single, most
profitable crop, using only hand labour, ranges from 5.2 ha for cowpea
to 41.6 ha for sorghumj this includes some fallow and assumes that the
farmer hires any necessary seasonal labour additional to the family input, and
that there is is no labour restraint. Holdings using oxen must be much
86

larger, in order to provide sufficient fodder for the animals (see below).
In practice,actual farm sizes will be even larger than these theoretically
calculated sizes,as the farmer does not grow single cash crops and some,
land may not be productive.
In the densely cultivated northern part of the Kaduna Plains that have a
high population, there is not enough land for each farmer to have a
holding big enough to generate an income equal to that earned by many
daily-paid Government employees.
Oxenisation The now widely-used term 'mixed farming' originated in northern
Nigeria and has come to denote farming which entails the use of animals for
draught purposes, usually restricted to ploughing or ridging. Mixed farming,
however, has always been envisaged as the integration of crop and animal husbandry
•involving the feeding of crop residues, the cultivation of fodder crops,
the use of manure and the employment of animals for a variety of draught
purposes: implements for cultivating and planting, and carts, have for long
been in use elsewhere -the best equipment is simple to adjust and can be
maintained by village blacksmiths. It is with this broader concept of
mixed farming that this study is concerned.
In areas with tsetse (Separate Map 2) it is assumed that the role of oxen
could be replaced largely by tractors for draught purposes (see below),
although it is expected that the Kaduna Plains will be largely free of
this vector in the next few years if the current eradication programme
is successful. In tsetse-free areas, where the cultivation density is less
than 35% and spare land for larger holdings is available*, an improved
system based on a 10-12 ha farm size enables the bulk of the work bulls'
food to be produced on the farm.
Mechanisation with tractors To make the use of tractors economic, they
must be used for most of the growing period. This means that most farming
operations need to be mechanised and this necessitates clean stumping,
with an associated increase in the risk of erosion and a need for erosion
control in susceptible areas. Farms, to be efficient, must also be
*Derived from a four-class analysis of cultivation density through airphoto
interpretation (see Part 2).
87

organised into large blocks. All this involves a radical change in the
farming system, and experience in other areas shows that the small farmer
tends to become less involved and less enthusiastic as these changes occur.
Full mechanisation is therefore.more appropriate to large mechanised
farms.
If tractors are used primarily for land preparation to eliminate the
drudgery of hand cultivation and to enable planting to take place earlier,
then it is unlikely that the tractors can be operated economically. Even
if farms are organised into blocks, the tractors will remain idle for a
large part of the year, together with the drivers and maintenance staff,
although there are undoubted marginal benefits to be derived from their
use in general haulage such as for firewood collection. A Government
subsidy of the service would, therefore, be essential. More efficient use
of equipment might be achieved by commercial contractors who use the
tractors for other work during the rest of the year.
If mechanisation of cultivation is undertaken, erosion control measures
are necessary in areas with slopes greater than 1%.
The full benefits of mechanisation will not be obtained unle.ss other inputs
are made available at the same time, such as a road network, controlled
marketing of key produce and fertiliser, and a forestry extension scheme.
Credit and marketing Seasonal loans should be provided to enable farmers
to obtain improved seed, fertiliser, agricultural chemicals, equipment
and tractor hire services. Marketing of scheduled crops should be
controlled by the project authority and loans recovered from the revenue
arising from the sale of produce. With crops that can be marketed locally,
loan recovery is more difficult. It may depend on refusing further credit
and services to debt defaulters and by making bad debts a community
responsibility.
Other agricultural inputs Inputs such as fertilisers, herbicides,
pesticides, implements, improved seed and planting material should be
available to the farmers at the correct time. Credit may be necessary so
supplies should be available where crops are marketed.
88

Implementation schedule As it is unlikely that the whole area could be
developed at once, development should be phased to keep pace with the build­
up of staff and infrastructure. After the intial establishment of the
Project Authority it is assumed that essential preliminary surveys are made
to examine the soil, hydrology, erodibility of the land and the human
resources. Following ah assessment of these, each phase should be scheduled
as follows:
Year 1 i. Recruiting and training of new staff and orientation
courses for existing staff at agricultural centres
ii. Provision of a limited supply of inputs to establish
credibility with the farming community
iii. Intensive publicity and formation of farmers' groups,
followed by their involvement in development of
infrastructural needs, including roads, housing and water
supplies, as well as the establishment of soil and water
conservation works. Project specialists would coordinate
and direct in such matters as supply of materials, bridge
and culvert construction, road alignment and dam layout
and design
iv. The establishment of seed multiplication units for an
initial period until these can be run by the farmers
Year 2 i. Continuation of publicity and formation of farmers'
groups
ii. Extension staff move to their villages and start work on
small demonstration farms for which they are solely
responsible and on which they carry out the manual work
involved with assistance from their family. These are to
act as a practical demonstration to the farmers and would
help the extension staff to build up their standing within
the farming community
89

iii. Continuation of the build-up of the infrastructure, with
the population involved at all stages, concentrating on
the building of storage facilities and mechanical workshop
for mechanisation
iv. Establishment of distribution, marketing and credit
organisation. The ordering and delivery of all agricultural
inputs required for Year 3
Year 3 The project becomes fully operational. All the required
inputs are available to farmers, through their group
organisations, together with extension advice on the way
to use them.
Location of integrated agricultural development projects in the Kaduna Plains
Only areas with three or more crop options have been considered suitable for
the establishment of integrated agricultural development projects, as a
choice of crops is considered essential. Suitable areas occur in all local
government areas, except for Type la in Keffi and the Federal Capital
Territory and Type lb in Gwarzo LG area. The location of all environmentally
suitable areas (exceeding approximately 1 500 ha,for cartographic reasons)
is shown on Text Map 5.10 and Separate Map 4, and is given in Table 43 in
relation to administrative units and land systems. Note that the areas are
somewhat generalised and, due to the small map scale, small areas may be
included which are not suitable for this form of development. It is accepted,
for practical purposes, that the boundary of a scheme may encompass unsuit­
able land, especially if the boundaries are those of administrative units.
In this case, effort will naturally be emphasised on the suitable land.
90

TABLE 43 Location of integrated agricultural development projects in the
Administration
unit
Kaduna Plains
Land systems
Densely cultivated areas Sparsely cultivated areas
Kaduna State
Birnin Gwari LG area 418,421,422,426
Funtua LG area 421,422,426,449,450 418,421,422,426,444,449
Ikara LG area 425,429,445,448,450,451 425,429,434,445,448,450,
451
Jema'a LG area 422,431,436,437,440 410,415,422,435,436,437,
438
Kachia LG area 416,431,435,440 402,405,406,409,410,411,
416,419,420,421,422,424,
427,428,429,430,431,432,
433,434,435,436,438,440
Kaduna LG area - -
Saminaka LG area 405,407,414,424,425,431, 402,403,405,407,414,418,
435 424,425,429,430,431,433
Zaria LG area 422,444,445,446,447,448, 402,418,422,426,429,444,
449,451 445,446,447,448,449,451
Niger State 406,428 402,405,406,427,428,436,
438
Plateau State
Barakin Ladi LG area 437,438 435,437,438
Bassa LG area 431,435 403,431,435
Keffi LG area - 420
Toro LG area 414,431 414,431,435
Kano State
Gwarzo LG area 450 -
Tudun Wada LG area 414,425 414,425
Fed. Cap. Territory - 406,419,420,428,436
There are large areas, therefore, which are environmentally suitable for this
form of development. Of the densely cultivated areas, the most favourable and
extensive are Land Systems 447, 448, 449 and 450 in Ikara and Zaria LG areas,
Land System 414 in Saminaka and Tudun Wada LG areas, and Land Systems 437 and
438 in Barakin Ladi LG area. All have gentle dominant slopes and are suit­
able for at least four major crops.
91

In sparsely cultivated areas the most favourable land systems with scope for
extending cultivation are Land Systems 447 and 448 in Zaria and Ikara LG
areas, both with gentle dominant slopes and suitable for five major crops.
Rather steeper, but with at least four crop options, and partly in tsetse
areas,are the following very extensive Land Systems, 422, 426, 427, 428,
429 and 431; these are predominantly in Zaria, Kachia and Saminaka LG
areas.
Effect on other types of development
The establishment of the second (lb) form of integrated development project
can mean an increase in the area under cultivation and a reduction in the
area available for grazing. However, there will be a parallel increase in
crop residues and, if these are made available to cattle, the loss of dry-
season grazing should be offset. Crop residues, however, are the source of
frequent conflicts between cultivators and pastoralists,- and it seems likely
that these will be exacerbated by the decrease in dry-season grazing. The
increase in cultivation means a loss of wet-season grazing, however, but in
the Kaduna Plains there is still a considerable area of uncultivated, tsetse-
free land available for grazing in the wet season.
If the density of cultivation is increased over a large area, the provision
of firewood and poles may create difficulties. Plantations may need to be
established or farmers encouraged to grow woodlots to meet demand.
2. LARGE MECHANISED FARMS FOR PRODUCTION OF RAINFED ANNUAL CROPS
(CRITERIA: all areas with three or more crop options; 35% land in
cultivation cycle; 3% dominant slope; not severely gullied, rocky or
with ironpan; 1 OOP ha blocks; coarse drainage net)
In Nigeria these farms have been established by Government for the
production of large quantities of food crops or as seed multiplication
centres.
Such projects should fulfill the following requirements:
92

Size The farm should be at least 1 OOO ha, the minimum size for fully
mechanised production of annual rainfed crops, according to experienced
local opinion. This figure is somewhat arbitrary, however, and a detailed
economic analysis should be made to verify this.
Site Density of existing cultivation should be less than 35% so that
major problems of resettlement and compensation will not arise. Dominant
slopes should be less than 3%. Slopes greater than this require complex
conservation layouts with horizontal intervals between field boundaries of
less than 50 m resulting in inefficient working of machinery due to short
runs and excessive turning time. The selected area should not be too
fragmented by valleys or drainage lines, so that the efficient layout of
fields and roads is not hindered.
Soils Detailed soils information is necessary at an early stage, together
with a contour map, in order that a rational farm layout can be made.
Soil and water conservation works The basic layout of field access roads,
storm drains, terraces and grassed waterways should be established before
cultivation commences. Shelter belts should be planted up as soon as
possible. Dams and weirs should be constructed at this stage as required.
Machinery and equipment The types and quantity of machinery and
equipment should be selected to suit both local conditions and the crops
to be grown. Adequate spares, together with repair and maintenance
facilities, should be available on site.
Buildings These should include adequate cleaning and storage facilities
for the crops grown, as well as provision for bulk handling. Drying
plants may be necessary in certain cases.
93

Management Due to the high capital investment in such schemes, it
cannot be over-emphasised that experienced and highly skilled management
is a key factor in their success.
Implications of mechanised schemes
The aim of these schemes should not be to compete with the local farmers for
crop markets. Their main justification is to build up national food reserves
speedily and/or boost improved seed production, and as such must be linked
with central storage facilities. Where suitable areas are restricted,
however, the establishment of large mechanised farms, may compete with
grazing, forestry and fallow land requirements.
At present, such schemes are being initiated on an ad hoc basis without
adequate information on the following aspects:
Economic viability
Their relationship to schemes being initiated elsewhere
Their effect on overall crop production, marketing and prices
The long-term effects of intensive mechanised agriculture on
soils which are often infertile and poorly structured
Rotations
Possibilities of integration of livestock enterprises with
crop production
Location of large mechanised farms in the Kaduna Plains
There are large areas of the Kaduna Plains suitable for mechanised farms
with only Barakin Ladi, Bassa, Keffi and Gwarzo Local Government areas not
containing any or sufficient uncultivated land (Text Map 5.11) . Large
blocks, exceeding 5 OOO ha, may be difficult to locate in some land
systems, however, due to the presence of lightly incised streams. Land
System 422 contains many large ironpan cappings in places but is included
for the this form of development as it is very extensive, and typical of
this group in being moderately fragmented (a stream density of approximately
2
1.5 km stream length/km ). Associated with the streams are steepened lower
• 94

KADUNA PLAINS
AREAS SUITABLE FOR LARGE MECHANISED FARMS
(based on environmental and present land use factors only)
TEXT MAP 5.11
7°00' 7°30' 8°00' 8°30' 9°00'
11°30' 11°30'
11°00'
10°30'
10°00'
9°30'
9°00'
7
u
7°30'
30
_i I L_
8°00'
„ Kilometres
0 30
-J I
1:1.500,000
Report area boundary •jar Local government headquarters
Major road
o Town
Minor road or track
Railway
o Village
D.O.S. 3270L Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
8°30'
60
9°00'
11°00'
10°30'
10°00'
|9°30'
1|9°00'

slopes, so that the most favourable land is on crestal and side slopes in
linear blocks between streams. Table 44 shows the range of land systems
with potential for small and large blocks by administrative areas. Clearly,
it is only in Kaduna State that there remain large areas of unused
suitable land.
In all the land systems entered in Table 44, the dominant slopes are gentle
and, apart from on lower slopes, the erosion hazard is slight. In some
places outcrops of rock or ironpan may reduce the cultivable area but not
to a significant extent.
Other sites in the Kaduna Plains are dismissed as unsuitable because they
are intensively cultivated, too small, slopes are too steep,or there are
soil limitations to the growth of several of the crops considered.
TABLE 44 Areas suitable for mechanised farms on the Kaduna Plains
Land system
Administrative
unit Potential large blocks Potential medium-small
5 OOO ha blocks, 1 O0O-5 000 ha
Kaduna State
Birnin Gwari LG area 422,426 418
Funtua LG area 422 418,422,426,449
Ikara LG area 429,451 425,429,434,445,448,450
Jema'a LG area - 422,438
Kachia LG area 419,422,427,428,429,431 411,419,422,424,427,428,
429,431,432,433,438,439,
440
Saminaka LG area 424,429,431 414,418,424,425,429,431,
433
Zaria LG area 422,426,429,451 418,422,445,448,449
Niger State 428 419,427,428
Plateau State
Barakin Ladi LG area - -
Bassa LG area - -
Keffi LG area - -
Toro LG area - 414,431
Kano State
Gwarzo LG area - -
Tudun Wada 425 414,425
Fed. Cap. Terr. - 406,419,428
95

Effect on other types of development
The establishment of large mechanised farms means a reduction in the area
of the land for grazing. Unless specific plans are made for their use it
is unlikely that crop residues would be available for cattle,as under
intensive mechanised agriculture most of the stubble would either be burnt
off or ploughed in with the addition of nitrogenous fertiliser. Mechanised
schemes would preclude any form of production forestry but there would be a
need to establish windbreaks and shelterbelts.
The effect that production from large mechanised farms would have on local
market prices is unknown at present and needs study. If the objective is
to build up strategic food reserves then they are unlikely to compete
directly with the farmer.
3. IMPROVEMENT OF TRADITIONAL GRAZING
o
(CRITERIA: all areas with an absence of tsetse flies; dominant slopes

The cooperation and participation of the pastoralist is essential in any
attempt to halt or reverse the deterioration of the rangeland and it is
clear that rangeland improvement must involve the control of stock numbers
and stock movement. The pastoralist's traditional independence, dislike of
interference and his suspicion of authority, however, makes this cooperation
difficult to secure. Ideally, their concern for their stock must be extended
to include a concern for the environment and its resources; it is difficult
to understand their apparent present indifference to ensuring the sustained
productivity of the rangeland. To encourage a change in attitude, it may
be necessary to allocate grazing rights to particular groups of pastoralists
(Blair Rains, 1978).
Among the measures which are necessary in any attempt to improve rangeland
are:
1. The education of the general public as well as the pastoralists about
the effects of untimely bush fires during the dry season. For
example, while a late burn once, in 3-4 years helps to maintain good
quality pastures by eliminating woody regrowth, it is difficult to
control. Early burns are detrimental to pasture composition in the
long term. For forestry,any firing is harmful, but early burning is
least harmful
2. The preservation of fodder trees by demonstrating that less severe
lopping ensures a greater yield of fodder in subsequent years
3. Pasture improvement. The introduction of legumes, particularly
Stylosanth.es, into the natural grassland would provide valuable
herbage in the dry season. However, the problems of establishing
legumes over large areas are considerable; amongst these are problems
of seed supply, the question of who would be responsible for planting
and the control of stock, including small ruminants. In addition,
applications of phosphatic fertiliser would be beneficial, if not
essential
4. The improvement should form part of a coordinated inter-State policy,
which includes the creation of grazing reserves discussed in the next
section.
97

Areas for improvement of traditional grazing
Areas where the improvement of traditional grazing should be most effective
are shown in Table 45 in relation to land systems and administrative units.
They are also shown on Text Map 5.12 and on Separate Map 4.
TABLE 45 Areas suitable for improvement of traditional grazing
Administrative
unit
Land systems
Kaduna State
Birnin Gwari LG area -
Funtua LG area 421,422,426,444,449
Ikara LG area 413,425,429,431,434,436,443,445,448,450,451
Jema'a LG area 410,412,415,422,423,431,436,437,438,439,440
Kachia LG area 405,406,409,410,411,412,413,416,417,419,420,422,
424,427,428,429,431,433,436,438,439,440
Saminaka LG area 403,405,407,413,414,424,425,429,431,433,436
Zaria LG area 422,426,429,444,445,446,447,448,449,451
Niger State 405,406.. 419,427,428, 436
Plateau State
Barakin Ladi LG area 437,438
Bassa LG area 403,431
Keffi LH area 420,436
Toro LG area 414,431
Kano State
Gwarzo LG area -
Tudun Wada LG area 414,425
Fed. Cap. Terr. 406,419,420,428,436
Only the small portions of Birnin Gwari and Gwarzo Local Government areas
within the Kaduna Plains are without suitable land, the former due to the
presence of tsetse fly and the latter because of high cultivation density.
Tsetse infestation excludes large western and central parts (see Separate
Map 2) from any form of pastoral development at present. The successful
eradication of this vector will open up most of the Kaduna Plains to
grazing improvement, as other environmental considerations are not limiting.
98

KADUNA PLAINS
TEXT MAP 5.12
AREAS SUITABLE FOR IMPROVEMENT OF TRADITIONAL GRAZING
(based on environmental and present land use factors only)
7°00' 7°30' 8°30' 9°00'
11°30'
11°00'
10°30'
10°00'
9°30'
9°uO'lL
00*1
7°00'
.__. Report area boundary •& Local government headquarters
Major road
Minor road or track
Railway
o Town
o Village
7°30' °00' °30' 9°00'
30
l_
0
Kilometres
30
J
1:1,500,000
L_
D.O.S. 3270M Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
60
_J
11"30'
10°00'
9°30'
9°00'

Effects on other types of development
Traditional grazing may be improved without major changes to other
existing agricultural activities, but it should be planned in relation to
them. Most immediately, policies of rangeland use and improvement in
forest reserves need coordination with forestry departments.
It is an obvious but important fact that an increase in the area of land
used for, say, arable cropping, means a decrease in the area available for
grazing, though this may be partly offset by the increased availability
of crop residues. Where an expansion of the area of cultivated land is
planned or is actually taking place, the improvement of traditional
grazing is particularly urgent. In such areas, eventually there will be
insufficient land to support pastoralism as presently practiced and
provision should be made for the establishment of managed grazing reserves.
The tsetse-eradication programme is making additional land available for
grazing.
4. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRAZING RESERVES
(Criteria: all land with an absence of tsetse flies; dominant slopes

2. Main wet- and dry-season grazing areas* should be demarcated and
gazetted as grazing reserves; Settled and semi-nomadic herds could
also be accommodated in these reserves
3. Grazing reserves should be established along the main migration
routes to act as staging posts for the nomadic herds. They should
have fencing, adequate water supplies and veterinary and market
facilities to make them attractive to the Fulani. The aim of these
staging posts should be to regulate and facilitate transhumance
4. The natural grassland within the grazing reserves should be improved by:
i. An intensive campaign to make the nomadic Fulani aware of the
long-term dangers of dry-season burning for early grazing,
and the indiscriminate lopping of fodder trees
ii. Selective reduction in the shrub vegetation
iii. The introduction of grass and legume species by sod-
seeding (minimal cultivation)
These measures will only be effective if it can be demonstrated to the
Fulani that their cattle will be better off than with their traditional
way of life. Settlement and more intensive methods of livestock production
are often accompanied by changing livestock disease problems; veterinarians
are familiar with this pattern.
Location of grazing reserves in the Kaduna Plains
Areas suitable for the establishment of grazing reserves occur in all the
Local Government areas except Birnin Gwari and Gwarzo. The location of
these areas is shown on Text Map 5.13, on Separate Map 4 and is given in
Table 46 in relation to administrative units and land systems. They can be
most easily established in tsetse-free areas of low-density cultivation
which can be identified on Separate Map 2.
*The southern Kaduna Plains is also a dry-season grazing area for cattle
coming from Bornu, Kano and Sokoto States to utilise crop residues.
100

KADUNA PLAINS
AREAS SUITABLE FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF GRAZING RESERVES
(based on environmental and present land use factors only)
TEXT MAP 5.1 3
7°00' 7°30' 8°00' 8°30' 9°00'
11-30'
11°00'
10°30'
10°00'
9°30'
9°00'
7= 00' 7°30'
30
L_
8°00'
. Report area boundary •£- Local government headquarters
Kilometres
0 30
_l L_
1:1,500.000
Major road o Town
Minor road or track o Village
Railway
D.O.S. 3270N Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
8°30'
60
9°00'
11°30'
11°00'
J9„
10°30'
10°00'
9°30'

TABLE 46 Areas suitable for location of grazing reserves in the Kaduna
Plains
Administrative
unit
Land systems
Kaduna State
Birnin Gwari LG area -
Funtua LG area 421,422,426,444,449
Ikara LG area 413,425,429,431,434,436,443,445,448,450,451
Jema'a LG area 410,412,415,422,423,431,436,437,438,439,440
Kachia LG area 405,406,409,410,411,412,413,416,417,419,420,422,
424,427,428,429,431,433,436,438,439,440
Saminaka LG area 403,405,407,413,414,424,425,429,431,433,436
Zaria LG area 422,426,429,444,445,446,447,448,449,451
Niger State 405,406,419,427,428,436
Plateau State
Barakin Ladi LG area 437,438
Bassa LG area 403,431,
Keffi LG area 420,436
Toro LG area 414,431
Kano State
Gwarzo LG area -
Tudun Wada LG area 414,425
Fed. Cap. Terr. 406,419,420,428,436
All environmentally suitable areas are shown on Separate Map 4, excepting
small scattered areas of less than 1 500 ha and those which are surrounded
by forest reserves near to the present distribution of Glossina morsitans.
Since the environmental requirements for the establishment of these reserves
are less demanding that for all other forms of development considered here,it
would be rational to create them in land systems which are excluded from
other forms of development. Those which would permit reasonably large
reserves to be established, covering between 5 000-50 OOO ha, are Land
Systems 413,417 and 423. The first, in particular, offers a very large
area north and south of Pambegua.
101

Effects on other types of development
The establishment of grazing reserves reduces the land available for
cultivation and forestry. It does not necessarily mean that the cattle
population can be increased by the numbers accommodated in the reserve.
5. ESTABLISHMENT OF CATTLE RANCHES AND DAIRY FARMS
(CRITERIA; all areas with an absence of tsetse flies; 3 OOP ha for ranch; >600 ha
for dairy farm
Livestock enterprises which include growing-out* ranges and dairy farms
require,above all, high standards of management; the exotic breeds which
are recommended for milk production are particularly demanding and
successful dairy farming largely depends on the skill of the stockmen.
A problem in lightly cultivated parts of the northern Kaduna Plains is the
provision of adequate feed in the dry season, and it is envisaged that both
types of enterprise will rely heavily on crop-processing or food-
manufacturing by-products. In addition, the more exacting food requirements
of the milking cow involve the provision of good quality bulk food; this
requirement is probably most satisfactorily met by the cultivation and
conservation of suitable crops as silage. Southern areas are less
difficult in this respect as dry-season grazing is more satisfactory.
It cannot be over-emphasised that the economics of livestock enterprises
require the most careful investigation.
The eradication of tsetse fly over substantial north-western and central
areas is needed prior to these forms of development. Large forest
reserves in nominally-free areas could harbour residual Glossina populations.
*The proposed system cannot be termed 'fattening' but growth and weight increase
is implied.
102

Cattle ranches
The ranches will 'grow out'» over a period of 5-10 months, semi-mature
cattle purchased from Fulani herds. (In several African countries
Government ranches provide grazing and veterinary care for cattle which
remain the property of the owners who pay a monthly free; the cattle must
go to slaughter after 6-18 months.)
Herd size The number of cattle on the ranch will fluctuate but should
not exceed 2 OOO until experience has been gained from Manchok, for example,
and the economic viability of ranching has been established.
Stock, should be purchased mainly in the second half of the dry season;
there should be a regular off-take of cattle for slaughter and numbers
would .be at a minimum prior to the main purchasing period.
Wet season feeding Natural grassland should provide fairly satisfactory
grazing during the wet season (commencing 3/4 weeks after the first rains),
provided that the grazing regime maintains the herbage at a suitable stage
of growth.
Dry season feeding Upland grassland in the northern areas provides only
poor quality roughage. The introduction of Stylosanthes guyanensis
into the grassland makes a valuable contribution to the nutrition of
stock in the dry season when this legume is readily eaten (the growth of
the legume depends on grass competition being reduced by fairly hard
grazing during the wet season). Another source of dry season fodder
could be a cultivated stand of either Guinea grass (Panicum maximum)
or elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) which is either cut and ensiled
or cut and fed fresh. In southern, wetter areas, natural grassland can be
managed to provide herbage which is nutritively sufficient for maintenance.
In both northern and southern areas, supplementary feeding stuffs,such as
103

cotton seed, cotton seed cake, brewers' grains or groundnut cake will be
necessary to obtain liveweight gains during the dry season.
Area of ranch The area of a ranch for a unit of 1 000 head is given in
Table 47; the number of cattle will be lower during certain periods of
the year.
TABLE 47 Cattle ranch area per 1 OOO head (7 kg dry matter intake per
head per day)
Wet-season grazing
Dry-season fodder
Category Yield, t/ha
Buildings, yards, crushes, etc.
lO (green material)
Area, ha
Northern Southern
1 200
800
70
)
j 2 500
Total 2 070 2 570
It may be found profitable to fatten suitable animals for 3-4 months prior
to slaughter; it is anticipated that the costs of this practice will
limit it to small numbers of animals which would attract a premium at
slaughter.
Dairy farms
Herd size Because of the lack of commercial dairy farm operating
experience, it is recommended that farms be restricted initially to
lOO milking cows which, with herd replacements, corresponds to 160
livestock units.
Breed The herd should consist of Friesians which have been kept
successfully under similar climatic conditions at Shika, Zaria. They should
yield approximately 2 270 kg per lactation, compared with Bunaji (White
104
70

Fulani) 910 kg, cross bred Bunaji-Friesian 1 640 kg, and Friesians in the
temperate zone 4 200 kg.
Wet-season feeding Grass-legume pastures should provide maintenance for
mature and semi-mature stock. Milk production should be based on
concentrate feeding; small amounts of concentrates should also be fed
to weaners and to young stock in the second half of the wet season.
Unimproved grassland can be discounted as a source of nutrients for dairy
cows after the first half of the wet season.
Dry-season feeding In northern areas, where dry-season feeding is
difficult silage should be fed generously (adult cattle eat approximately
7-8 kg dry matter/day). Grass does not make satisfactory silage
(Miller et al. 1963) and it is desirable to ensile a purpose-grown cereal
crop such as maize or sorghum. Timely harvesting of a large area may
be difficult and it is therefore recommended that trials of species such
as elephant grass or guinea grass for ensiling be undertaken; the necessary
additional silage would be made from the more suitable of these fodder
grasses to. which fertiliser would be applied. Good-quality hay is useful
for calves and sick animals. Haulms of leafy cowpea and groundnut
(harawa) are normally available in small quantities but if supplies are
likely to be inadequate a legume crop, such as Glycine javanica or
Stizolobium deeringianum, should be grown and conserved as hay.
In the south it should be possible to supplement natural grassland with
harawa trucked in from the north or from small areas of ensiled cereals.
Concentrates should be fed to milking cows according to yield, and to
immature stock. It is recommended that the concentrate ration be
compounded on the farm from purchased materials. Changes in the formula­
tion of concentrate or in the overall rations should always be introduced
gradually.
Area of farm The farm size required for 160 livestock units is given in
Table 48.
105

TABLE 48 Dairy farm: area per 100 cows plus followers
• ' •
Category Yield, t/ha
Improved pasture
Legume hay
Cereal for silage
Fodder grass for silage
Buildings, yards
3.8*
20**
10**
Area, ha
Northern Southern
132
12
20
30
34
132
nil
20
nil
Total 228 186
*Dry matter **Green material
Location of cattle ranches or dairy farms in the Kaduna Plains
Suitable sites for the establishment of cattle ranches or dairy farms occur
almost throughout southern, eastern and north-eastern Kaduna Plains in all
but Birnin Gwari and Gwarzo Local Government areas. Their location is
shown on Text Map 5.14 and Separate Map 4»and is given in Table 49 in
relation to land systems. Such schemes can be established most easily
in areas of low cultivation intensity identified from Separate Map 2.
If it is intended that the dairy farms should supply a large proportion
of their own fodder needs,then land suitable for mechanised farming would
be most appropriate, but which additionally is suitable for at
least three major crops. For dairy farms it is essential that the site
should include at least 60 ha of soils which have few limitations for crop
growth. Thus, in general, land systems of two crop options or less can be
expected to be unsuitable (LS 401, 408, 412, 413, 417, 423, 439 and 443).
Accessibility and good roads to nearby urban markets are also essential
for dairy farms. For these reasons,the most desirable areas would appear
to be east of Kaduna in Land System 442, east of Zaria in Land Systems 445,
447 and 448, or in Land systems 421, 444 and 449 in the north. A further
growth area will be the new Federal Capital Territory for which land
systems on the southern boundary of the Kaduna Plains should be considered.
106
34

KADUNA PLAINS
AREAS SUITABLE FOR CATTLE RANCHES OR DAIRY FARMS
(based on environmental and present land use factors only)
TEXT MAP 5.14
7°00' 7°30' 8°30'
11°30' 11°30'
10°00' - 10°00'
9°30' 9°30'
Report area boundary -fr Local government headquarters
Major road
o Town
Minor road or track
Railway
o Village
9°00'
L_
7°00' 7°30' 8°00' 8°30' 9°00'
30
l_
0
Kilometres
30
J
1:1,500,000
L_
D.O.S. 3270P Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
60
_J
11°00'
10°30'
9°00'

TABLE 49 Areas suitable for location of cattle ranches or dairy farms
Administrative
unit
Land systems
Kaduna State
Birmin Gwari LG area -
Funtua LG area 421,422,426,444,449
Ikara LG area 425,429,431,434,445,448,450,451
Jema'a LG area 410,415,422,431,436,437,438,440
Kachia LG area 406,409,410,411,416,419,420,422,424,427,428,
431,433,436,438,440
Saminaka LG area 403,405,407,414,424,425,429,431,433,436
Zaria LG area 422,426,429,444,445,446,447,448,449,451
Niger State 405,406,419,427,428,436
Plateau State
Barakin Ladi LG area 437,438
Bassa LG area 403,431
Keffi LG area 420,436
Toro LG area 414,431
Kano State
Gwarzo LG area -
Tudun Wada LG area 414,425
Fed. Cap. Terr. 406,419,420,428,436
Effect on other types of development
The establishment of cattle ranches or dairy farms reduces the area of land
available for cultivation and forestry. The effect of production from
these farms on local markets for meat and dairy products is not known, but
it is likely that demand presently exceeds supply.
6. FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT FOR PRODUCTION OF TIMBER
(CRITERIA: all land considered on environmental merits above minimum of
5 - 100 ha)
Ferguson (1973) has shown that plantations growing eucalypts or pines for
timber and poles in the Northern Guinea Savanna Zone are financially viable
107
429,

provided they are sited within about 200 km of the market. Beyond this
distance the cost of transport exceeds the costs of raising the poles and
there is no profit in the enterprise. The two major urban markets of Kaduna
and Zaria within the Kaduna Plains and Kano outside can be served by
reserves within the Kaduna Plains. Katsina, beyond the 200 km range, can
be supplied with timber more cheaply from here than from further south.
In order to arrive at an approximate area of plantation to meet the urban
requirements for sawn timber, assumptions have to be made about the growth
rate of the trees, the urban population at the end of the rotation (when
the trees are ready to fell) and the quantity of sawnwood that will be
required per person.
Growth rate and rotation length
From measurements in plots at Afaka and Mairabo Forest Reserves (Howard,
1976) combined with the work at the Savanna Forest Research Station (Jackson,
1974) at Zaria; it appears that Eucalyptus in the Northern Guinea Savanna
Zone can be grown to timber size (20-30 cm diam.) in 10-15 years. In
Zambia Eucalyptus grandis has been successfully converted to sawn timber
(Adler, 1975) . Using the correct provenance of such species as
E. grandis, E. camaldulensis or E. tereticornis, mean annual increments in.
3
the order of 10-15 m /ha/year should be achieved. For planning purposes, a
3
potential yield of 10 m /ha/a has been adopted for the reserves in the
vicinity of Kaduna, because it is felt that over a large area yields are
likely to be below those achieved in research plots.
Urban population and consumption of sawn timber
Urban population and population growth have been predicted by Grut (1972)
and Ferguson (1973). Consumption levels of sawn timber have been
estimated by Thulin (1970) and Grut (1972). Timber consumption levels for
the four northern cities that could be supplied with timber from the Kaduna
Plains are given in Table 50.
108

TABLE 50 Estimates of volume requirement for sawlogs (after Ferguson,
City
Kaduna
Kano
Katsina
Zaria
1973)
Sawn log requirement*
m^x 1 000
1972 1982 1992
8.5
16.7
5.1
9.4
23.0
32.9
9.1
22.3
62.9
64.6
16.4
52.7
Total 196.6
*Assume 50% waste in conversion
Eucalyptus timber is suitable for constructional purposes, but not for
furniture and decorative uses. For these latter uses it will be necessary
to rely on a supply of the traditional forest species such as mahogany,
iroko and afara. A timber survey, conducted in Jos market (Howard, 1976b),
showed that about 50% of the wood sold was whitewood (Triplochiton),
having similar uses to eucalypts. On this basis, therefore, and assuming
the survey to be representative of urban demand, only half the timber
requirement can be met from the eucalypts. Growth rates of decorative
hardwoods (teak^mahogany) are too slow in the Northern Guinea Savanna Zone
to justify growing them here.
3
The estimated 1992 requirement for sawlogs is 196 600 m , of which half will
3
come from eucalypts. This demand for eucalypts °f 98 300 m per year can be
grown on a plantation of 9 830 ha, assuming a growth rate of 10 m /ha/a
(Jackson, 1974) in a 15-year rotation. Because the rotations for timber
and firewood are different, it is better to keep the two working circles
separate. Because firewood is a lower value commodity than timber, firewood
transport costs are much more sensitive to distance from the market. There­
fore, the reserves nearest to Kaduna (listed in Table 54) should be used for
firewood production. Timber production can be concentrated in one Forest
Reserve,Anara, which has sufficient area to provide 9 830 ha oftimber
plantation.
109

In Table 50 the estimated 1992 consumption levels are greatly above the
1982 figures. This increase is due to the logarithmic urban population
growth.
If the timber is harvested on a 15-year rotation, the requirement for 1992
has to be planted in 1977. It is important to note that if planting on
the scale proposed (655 ha/year) for 15 years is not undertaken, there will
be a drastic shortage of timber by 1992, which may severely hamper
development in other sectors of the economy.
Table 51 shows, by land system and administrative unit, the forest reserves
which are suitable for timber production. Text Map 5.15 indicates their
location The small group of high forest outliers centred around Kafin Koro
in Niger State and the isolated outliers along the foot of the Jos Plateau
have a high potential for growing timber. The best method of enriching or
regenerating these outliers is by felling the mature Triplochiton, Khaya
and Chlorophora and planting groups of indigenous species in the gaps created.
In this way the forest is restocked with valuable commercial species and
the richness and unique diversity of the natural flora is preserved.
In the south-east, in Nindam, Chanje and Kafanchan Kurmi forest reserves
can be developed for supplying timber to the Jos Plateau. The railway
junction at Kafanchan makes this a suitable focal point for the export of
timber.
With the siting of the Federal Capital Territory at Abuja, there is a long-
term prospect of increased development in the area. Because it is not yet
possible to predict the population of the Capital Territory for 1992,
detailed estimates of the area required for plantations cannot be made.
Doka and Giwa Forest Reserves are the nearest large reserves. These should
be opened up and growth trials established in them without delay so that
plantations of the most suitable species can be established.
HO

KADUNA PLAINS
TEXT MAP 5.15
AREAS SUITABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT FOR PRODUCTION OF TIMBER
7°00' 7°30' 9°00'
11°30'
11°00'
10°00"
9°30'
9°00'
1:1,500,000
DOS. 3270Q Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
11°30'
10°30'
9°30'
|9°00'

TABLE 51 Land systems in forest reserves suitable for the production of timber and of fuel and poles
State and LGA
Forest reserves for timber
production
Forest reserves for fuel and
pole production .
Name Land system Name Land system
Kaduna State
Tudun Iya 449
Funtua Tumburkai 449
Ikara
Jema'a Nindam
Chanje
Kafanchan
Kurmi
404
404
404,439
Nasarawa
Kurmin Kogi
Guaraka
Anchau West
Gulma River
443,448
443,448
448
448,451
413,425
Kachia Doka 406,427,428 Mando Rd (N) 421,422
Giwa 419,420,428 Mando Rd (S) 421,422
Kubo 420 Kaguru
422
Kak an
422
Tukuruwa
422
Libere
418,429,430
Doka Hills
430
Mai Ido
413,422
Kurmin Biri
432
• -
Akwana East
Akwana West
411,422
419,428
Rahama Escarpment 436,438
Chawal Escarpment 431,435,438
Kurmin Bi
422
Zaria Anara 422,426,446 Idasu
Fatika
Kakangi
Guga
Ma je
Kabama
Mairabo
Ribako
Kona
Anchau West
Afaka
Rigachikun
Saminaka Libere
Kwogin
,
Kurmin Male
K Bakin Kogi
Niger State
Plateau State
Kabo
Shanu
Pinai
Kwanti
Kafin Koro
Naneti
Siehe
Feri
Kwagwena
Kakur
Beni
Kudama
Kuna
428
428
428
428
428
428
428
428
428
428
428
42 8
406
Bassa Jere
Limoro
Chokobo
111
422
422
422,444
444
444
446
446
413,429
429,446,447,451
451
422
422
418
414,431
414
424,441
434
431,434

7. FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT FOR PRODUCTION OF FIREWOOD AND POLES
(CRITERIA: all areas considered with minimum areas of 5-lOQ ha)
The area required for fuel and poles supply
The productivity or rate of growth of natural savanna vegetation has been
estimates by Jackson and Ojo (1973) to be 0.35-1.75 m /ha/year. The
average fuel consumption for the savanna regions is in the order of 0.63 m'
per person per year (Thulin, 1970). Therefore, depending upon the
productivity, there need to be 1.8-0.36 ha of natural vegetation to meet
every person's annual firewood needs from the natural vegetation. With
increasing population, the bush-fallow period shortens and the land
remaining under natural vegetation diminishes. When bush-fallow farming
has been replaced by permanent farming, the firewood supplies have to be
met either by cutting down the economic farm trees or from plantations
established in forest reserves or small woodlots. Plantations of fast-
growing introduced species are more productive than the natural
vegetation. In the Northern Guinea Savanna Zone yields of eucalypts of
10-15 m /ha/a can be expected. For this order of yield, 0.063-0.042 ha
of land are needed per person.
The alternative means of production
Firewood and poles can be produced by (a) State or Federal Forestry
Departments making plantations in forest reserves, (b) farmers growing
small woodlots backed by a forestry extension service^ (c) extraction from
areas of natural vegetation. Urban requirements for fuel will have to be
met from plantations situated near the towns. The rural population in
densely populated areas should grow their own firewood and poles in
individually owned woodlots. Lightly populated areas, in which bush
fallow cultivation is likely to be the practice for many years to come,
can continue to rely on the natural vegetation for their supplies.
112

The calorific value of firewood
Before beginning a programme of firewood plantation establishment,it is
worth considering the relative merits of species for firewood.
The calorific value of air—dry wood (12—15% mc) is about 3 780 k cal/kg;
the value does not alter significantly for different species. Because
the calorific content depends on the weight,not the volume, slow-growing
species with a high density may have an equal calorific yield to fast-
growing species with a low density.
Table 52 gives the range of growth rates for some plantation species that
might be grown in the Southern and Northern Guinea Savanna Zones and a
general indication of the calorific yield, obtained by multiplying the
tree's mean annual increment by the density and by the calorific value
of wood. Teak is unlikely to have much heartwood at an age when it is
cut for firewood; the density of the sapwood is likely to be much less
3
than 629 kg/m . Eucalyptus has the highest calorific yield and is,
therefore, the best choice for firewood plantations. On steep slopes
there might be a danger of erosion where the ground vegetation is
suppressed and bare soil exposed. In the Southern Guinea Savanna Zone
Gmelina does not provide a good yield on savanna sites, particularly on
shallow or exhausted soils.
TABLE 52 Comparison of calorific yields of firewood plantation species
Teak
Gmelina
Species
Eucalyptus spp.
Growth rate
m.a.i
m^/ha/a
15
10
5
15
lo
5
15
10
5
Density air dried
15% m.c.
kg/m^
629 (heart)
500
730
113
Calorific yield
kcal/kg x lO 6
Growth x density x
3 780
35.7
23.8
11.9
28.4
18.9
9.5
41.4
27.6
13.8

7a Plantations for poles and firewood in forest reserves
Distance
Firewood cannot be transported far before the cost of transport plus
the costs of plantation establishment exceeds the price that can be
obtained for the firewood in the market. Ferguson (1973) has estimated
that for a plantation growing eucalypts in the Northern Guinea Savanna
Zone the critical economic distance that firewood and poles can be
transported is about 50 km. A circle of radius 50 km drawn round Kaduna
takes in Anara, Rigachikun, Afaka, Mando Road North, Kaguru, Kadau and
Tukuruwa Forest Reserves (Anara Forest Reserves has been recommended for
timber production). The circle around Zaria takes in the Fatika, Kakangi,
Guga, Maje, Kabama, Mairabo and Nasarawa Forest Reserves.
In Table 51, forest reserves are listed by land system and administrative
unit which are suitable for pole and firewood production and Text Map 5.16
shows their location.
Area
The area of plantation needed for provision of an adequate supply of fire­
wood and poles may be determined in the same way as that required for
timber production. Estimates of firewood and pole requirements in 1972,
1982 and 1992 have been obtained by Thulin (1970), Grut (1972) and
Ferguson (1973) . Their findings are given in Table 53 below.
114

TABLE 53 Estimates of volume of poles and firewood required in Kaduna
City
Kaduna
Zaria
and Zaria
3
Volume x 1 OOO m
1982
3
Volume x 1 000 m
1992
Poles Firewood Total Poles Firewood Total
13.4
14.8
280
230
Source: Ferguson (1973)
293.4
244.8
16.4
18.0
400
280
416.4
298.0
Assuming that Eucalyptus is planted,the estimated potential yield of
3 ~
10 m /ha/a will, on a rotation of 7 years, provide a final yield of
70 m /ha. The total area required to meet all of Kaduna's 1982 firewood
and pole requirement is 29 340 ha and for the 1992 requirement is 41 640 ha
(annual felling area of 4 191 and 5 949 ha, respectively). Similarly, for
Zaria, the 1982 area is 24 480 ha and the 1992 area is 29 800 ha (annual
felling area of 3 497 and 4 257 ha, respectively). However some produce
will continue to come from natural woodland so that plantation areas will
not need to be developed to meet the total requirement.
For Kaduna, the reserves that should be made into firewood and pole
plantations are listed in Table 54.
TABLE 54 Forest reserves in the vicinity of Kaduna recommended for
Forest reserve
Afaka
Anara
Rigachikun
Kaguru
Kakau
Tukuruwa
Mando Road North
Mando Road South
conversion to firewood and pole plantations
Area
ha
10 919
part
5 543
12 432
673
818
12 121
12 329
Land system
422 .
422, 426
422
422
422
422
421, 422
421, 422
115
Yield prediction
m^/ha/a
Euc. 10
Euc. lO
Euc. 10
Euc. lO
Euc. lO
Euc. lO
Euc. lO
Euc. lO

To meet Zaria's 1992 firewood and pole requirement, the reserves listed in
Table 55 should be made into plantations.
TABLE 55 Forest reserves in the vicinity of Zaria recommended for
Forest reserve
Mairabo
Kabama
Ma je
Guga
Kakangi
Fatika
Nasarawa
conversion to plantations
Area
ha
72
500
1 554
1 904
5 289
6 800
2 300
Land system
446
446
444, 426
444
442, 444
422
448, 443
Yield prediction
m /ha/a
Euc. lO
Euc. 10
Euc. 10
Euc. lO
Euc. lO
Euc. lO
Euc. 10
Along the northern and north-eastern edge of the Kaduna Plains in the
vicinity of Funtua, Zaria and Soba, and along the south-eastern edge of
the Kaduna Plains, farmed parkland has already replaced the natural savanna
regrowth that occurs when a farm has been abandoned. Where this has
happened it will be necessary to create plantations in the adjacent
forest reserves to provide a local fuel supply. The reserves that should
be developed to meet this local need are listed in Table 56.
116

TABLE 56 Forest reserves recommended for firewood and pole plantations
Forest reserve
to meet local requirements
Area
ha
Land system
Vegetation
zone*
Yield-prediction
m /ha/a
Idasu 700 422 NGZ 10. Euc
Tudun Iya 600 449 NGZ 10. Euc
Nasarawa 2 300 448, 443 NGZ lO. Euc
Guaraka 1 800 448 NGZ lO. Euc
Anchau West 12 700 448, 451 NGZ lO. Euc
Kurmin Kogi 3 200 448 10. Euc
Kwogin Kerami 2 900 414, 431 NGZ 10. Euc
Kurmin male 400 414 NGZ Eucalyptus lO
Bakin Kogi 1 400 424, 441 SGZ Gm. Euc. 10
Kagarko 1 400 404, 420 SGZ Gm. Euc. 10
Kabara 400 401, 420 SGZ Gm. Euc. 10
Kubacha 500 404 SGZ ' Gm. Euc. 10
Bayide 400 422 SGZ Gm. Euc. 10
Kurmin Bi 400 422 SGZ Gm. Euc. 10
Jere (part) 434 51% 0-2 NGZ Euc. 10
Limoro Chokobo (part) 431 NGZ Euc. 10
*NGZ, Northern < Guinea Sa> /anna sone; SQ 5, Southern Guinea Savanna Zone
7b Small farmer woodlots
The rural people need firewood and poles for their domestic requirements
no less than their urban brothers. So long as the natural vegetation
remains and the dominant farming practice involves bush fallowing, the
supply of firewood to the rural population presents no difficulties. When
bush-fallow farming has been replaced by permanent farms and the vegetation
cover is parkland of economic farm trees, it becomes necessary to provide
firewood; if not, the farm trees are cut down, with adverse environmental
consequences. For Government to establish firewood plantations for the
whole population would be too costly and too vast an undertaking. What
is needed is for the people to raise their own small woodlots to meet their
requirements. A forestry extension service would provide farmers with the
information and materials, possibly at subsidised prices, to meet this
objective.
117

The establishment of small woodlots by farmers, backed by an extension
service, has been recommended in areas that are proposed for integrated
rural development, having a land use intensity of more than 35% (see
Tables 41 and 57 and Text Map 5.16). The Federal Department of Forestry
has a project in the Third National Development Plan 1975-80 called Rural
Forestry Development. This aims to assist the States in promoting the
development of farm woodlots in rural areas. Over 5 million naira have
been allocated for the 5-year period.
Table 57 lists the land system requiring extension forestry, by
administration areas.
7c Extraction from areas of natural vegetation
Table 51 shows land systems by administrative units suitable for timber
extraction from natural vegetation and Text Map 5.15 shows their location.
From Separate Map 2. showing the intensity of cultivation, it can be seen
that population density is especially low in western Zaria Local Government
area and in Kachia Local Government area. High density areas are found along
the boundaries of the Kaduna Plains in Funtua, Ikara, Saminaka, Bassa and
Jema'a Local Government area.
Some large forest reserves are situated in the low population areas and
it is difficult to envisage any immediate development possibilities for
them. Although they are not recommended for immediate development, they
should not be converted to some other purpose or abandoned altogether.
Tables 50 and 53 provide figures of the project consumption rates of timber,
poles and firewood. The sudden rise in consumption between 1982 and 1992
signifies that the consumption rate of wood products increases logarithmically
with the population. The natural stands of woodland in the Southern and
Northern Guinea Savanna Zones may not have a fast growth rate, but they do
have a considerable standing volume of wood, which, when the time comes,
can be converted to timber, poles and firewood. Plots measured in the
Benue Valley (Howard, 1976a) have the mean basal areas and heights given
in Table 58.
118

KADUNA PLAINS
TEXT MAP 5.1 6
FOREST RESERVES FOR PRODUCTION OF FIREWOOD AND POLES,
AND AREAS REQUIRING EXTENSION FORESTRY
30
l_
_J I L
Kilometres
0 30
J l_
1:1,500,000
D.O.S. 3270R Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
60
_l
11"30'
11 "00"
10°00'
- 9°30'
J 9°00'

TABLE 57 Land systems requiring extension forestry
State and
local government area
Kaduna State
Zaria LGA
Funtua LGA
Ikara LGA
Kachia LGA
Saminaka LGA
Jema'a LGA
Kaduna
Niger State
Plateau State
Bassa LGA
Toro LGA
Barakin Ladi
Kano State
Tudun Wada LGA
Land system
443,446,447,449
421,422,426,449/450
443,448,450,
451
416,424,439,
440
407,414,431
416,422,431,436
437,438,439
422
406,428
431,434
431
438
414,425
119

From these data, a maximum total biomass volume is calculated of about 114 m /
ha (using a factor of 0.4 to convert basal area to volume), but it must be
emphasised that only the woodlands will yield this kind of volume. Regrowth
of savanna woodland or shrub savanna has a far lower volume than this, and
for this reason alone forest reserves should be maintained. If encroach­
ment and farming are permitted, or the status of the reserve is changed from
forestry to grazing/ the existing woodland will be destroyed through burning
or wastage.
TABLE 58 Total basal area for natural vegetation types in the Southern
Guinea Savanna Zone (Source, Howard, 1976a)
Vegetation type
Anogeissus-Terminalia glaucescens woodland
Daniellia woodland
Isoberlinia woodland
Uapaca woodland
Basal area
m 2 /ha
19
23
18.4
17.5
Mean height
m
17
15
16
io
_ — _ _ _ _ —
One of the reasons for creating the forest reserves intially was to ensure
the stability of the regional climatic and water regime. The relationship
between the vegetation cover and the overall climatic regime is not clearly
understood but Charney (1975), working on the causes of the Sahel drought,
and Walker and Rowntree (1976) suggest that vegetation does have a
fundamental effect on the rainfall. This inter-relationship has been
discussed by Howard (1976b).
8. ESTABLISHMENT OF FOREST RESERVES FOR PROTECTION AGAINST EROSION
(CRITERIA: all areas with dominant slopes exceeding 1Q%; severely gullied
land)
Forest reserves should be established in areas with erodible slopes in
excess of approximately 10% (6 ) where the alternative of laying down
strict soil conservation measures is not feasible.
120

Grazing and burning should be prohibited until the reserves are well
established and then strictly controlled so that grass cover is not
eliminated and the effectiveness of the erosion control reduced. If
the areas are not gazetted as reserves, the strictest soil conservation
measures should be enforced.
Location of forest reserves for protection against erosion
Areas requiring protection against erosion are shown on Text Map 5.17, on
Separate Map 4 and in Tables 51 and 59. Land Systems 402 and 404 are not
o
wholly in need of protection as small areas comprise slopes less than 6 .
TABLE 59 Areas requiring protection against erosion
Administrative unit Land system Existing forest reserves
Kaduna State
Zaria LG area - -
Funtua LG area - -
Ikara LG area 1,2 Katerna
1,2,102 Rahama Escarpment
Chawal Escarpment
Kachia LG area 1,102,401, Katerna, Rahama Escarpment
402,404,405, Akwana East
409,435
Saminaka LG area 1,2,402 -
Jema'a LG area 102,435 Arne re
401 Nindam (part)
Chanj e (part)
Plateau State
Keffi LG area 102,401,402
Bassa LG area 1,2,435 Rukuba
Gurum River
Jere
Limore Chokobo
Toro LG area 1,2
Niger State 1,2,401,
402,404
LS 402, 435-part prot :ection requir« id.
Zuma Hills
121

Watershed Management Project
In the third National Development Plan, 1975-80, the Federal Department of
Forestry propose setting up a Watershed Management Unit with an estimated
expenditure for the period of just over two million naira. The unit would
provide management plans for large watershed areas as well as for particular
areas affected by erosion or flood. The identification of the land systems
with slopes over 10% (6 ) is the first stage in the process of watershed
management.
Erosion danger areas
By superimposing Separate Map 2, Land use, on Separate Map 1,
land systems, it is possible to identify areas that are being intensively
cultivated and have slopes over 10% (6 ) or which are strongly gullied.
This has been done on the map accompanying the forestry report (Howard,
1976b). In the Kaduna Plains there are very few such areas. They occur
along the south-eastern boundary of the project at the foot of the Jos
Plateau escarpment, mainly in Land Systems 435 (gullies), 1,2,102 and 401.
RESEARCH NEEDS
A long-term programme of research should be established to answer some of
the problems to be encountered during development. Subjects needing
investigation are summarised below.
1. The long-term effects of intensive crop production on the often
infertile and poorly structured soils of the area need study; in
particular, the long-term effects of mechanised agriculture in
relation to differing management practices and rotations, and the
phenomenon of surface capping
2. Methods of applying pasture improvement techniques on a large scale
need investigation
3. Practical methods of improving the nutrition and health of young stock
in the ordinary nomadic herd need to be devised
122

7°00' 7°30'
KADUNA PLAINS
AREAS REQUIRING RESERVATION OR STRICT CONSERVATION
1:1.500,000
TEXT MAP 5.1 7
D.O.S. 3270S Prepared and printed by Directorate of Overseas Surveys 1978
11°30'
— 11°00'
10°30'
9°30'

4. A socioeconomic study of Fulani practices and attitudes is needed,
particularly of those on the Kano to Abuja axis. Related to this
is the need to study the desirability of multiple use of the forest
estate - i.e. should forest reserves be opened for grazing?
5. The Isoberlinia doka woodland has a potential for the production of
beeswax and honey. Research is required to improve the local methods
of apiculture and to organize the processing and marketing of
this minor natural resource.
6. A number of selected browse species, particularly some leguminous
shrubs, should be investigated to determine which can be propagated
and used for supplementary dry-season livestock feed.
7. Assessment of the economic and environmental role of the so-called
'farm trees'. If the fruits of trees such as Butyrospermum paradoxum
are no longer collected, should the trees still be preserved in the
farmland for environmental reasons? Research into which species should
be propagated and how this should be done, is needed.
8. Research is needed in the forestry aspects of erosion control. In
particular, investigations are necessary to identify species that will
provide ground cover and reduce runoff; and in the best method of
planting.
9. There is a need for practical experience in sawmilling the difficult
savanna species. The Kaduna Plains is an ideal place to gain such
experience, since it is well wooded with the sort of species that need
investigation.
12 3

CONSTRAINTS ON AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
The Third National Development Plan, 1975-80, discusses the constraints on
agricultural development as follows:
"The constraints are several but the most serious are:
i. Shortage of qualified manpower in key areas
ii. Inadequate supplies of agricultural inpu ts
iii. Inadequate extension service
iv. The poor condition of feeder roads and other transport
facilities
v. Inadequate or lack of effective supporting services such
as farm credit, marketing facilities, etc
vi. The problem of land ownership imposed by the land tenure
system in most parts of the country
vii. The problem of diseases and pests
viii. The problem posed by labour shortage in the rural areas
in consequence of rural-urban migration
ix. Lack of appropriate or complete packages of technology
for many food crops
x. Drudgery in farm work and low returns from agriculture which
forces rural youth to migrate to urban areas rather than go
into farming."
Interviews with about Lt> farmers in 2/ villages scattered throughout the
Kaduna Plains (see Separate Map 2) confirmed that these factors are indeed
constraints to agricultural development. Those factors for which data are
available are discussed below and more fully by Gosden (1978).
i. Shortage of qualified manpower in key areas and iii. Inadequate extension
services
1. No data were available on the ratio of field agricultural extension
workers to farming families for the Kaduna Plains area but is known to
be very low. Taken in conjunction with poor communications and lack of
124

transport available to the extension worker. This means that a large
proportion of the farming population has little or no contact with
advisory services. FAO suggest that a ratio of one extension worker to
1 0O0 farming families is an absolute minimum and existing integrated
rural development projects in Nigeria are aiming at a ratio of 1:400.
2. There are very few staff directly concerned with range management in
the Kaduna Plains. Veterinary assistants are responsible for animal
health rather than 'range management and consequently there is very
little extension work on grassland improvement.
3. Professional forestry staff and their field assistants are mainly,
concerned with development of plantations and reserves. They are
supported by a considerable number of forest.guards in the local
authorities. Lack of staff will be a constraint to the development of
an extension service intended to encourage farmers to grow woodlots and
the local authority staff could be used for extension work.
4. With any extension service, whether it be for crop production, grass­
land improvement, or forestry, there is a conflict between the need
to encourage and advise the population and the need for policing to
eliminate malpractices. The two functions should be kept entirely
separate and policing done by special inspectors.
viii. The problem posed by labour shortage in the rural areas in
consequence of rural-urban migration
Gosden (1978) has produced farming calendars for a number of localities in
the Kaduna Plains that show that shortage of labour is a common restraint
to production, particularly at weeding times. Lack of money at this time
prevents additional labour being hired, though the labour is available from
other areas.
125

Additional constraints
1. There is a lack of effective farmers' organisations which would enable
farmers to request and benefit from more effective extension advice,
bulk purchase of inputs and handling of produce, credit facilities and
tractor hiring units-
2. Large areas infested by tsetse fly limit animal production and
discourage their use by either hoe or ox cultivators due to the presence
of both human and animal trypanosomiasis.
3. The widespread occurrence of Striga results in reduced crop yields.
4. Lack of satisfactory water supplies in many areas, especially during
the dry season.
5. Competition for fadama areas between farmers and cattle owners has
reduced the area of dry-season grazing in the northern part of the
area. This in turn has led to the increase in intensity of lopping
browse species which is now causing the death of these valuable
species.
126

Part 5

Part 5 References
ADETUNJI S A (1974) Need for soil testing, fertiliser, yield correlation
studies; for sound recommendations for fertiliser use. Paper, National
Seminar on Planning and Organisation of Fertilisers.
ADLER L (1975) New Zambian mill saws plantation eucalyptus with gangsaw,
circle sawlines. World Wood, July 1975.
BEEDEN P, NORMAN W D, PRYOR D H, KROEKER W J, HAYS H M & HUIZINGA B (1976)
The feasibility of improved sole crop cotton production technology for the
smallrscale farmer in the Northern Guinea Savanna Zone of Nigeria. Samaru
Miscellaneous Paper, Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello
University, Nigeria, no. 61.
BENNETT J G, HUTCHEON A A, KERR W B, MANSFIELD J E & RACKHAM L J (1977)
Land resources of central Nigeria. Land Resources Report r Environmental
aspects of the Kaduna Plains; Volume 1, Landforms and soils; Volume 3,
Land systems, no. 19.
BENOIT P (1976) A study of variability of the growing season in northern
Nigeria. Paper, Nigerian Geographical Association Conference, no. 65.
BLAIR RAINS A (1975) Livestock production in the Central Nigeria Project
area. Miscellaneous Report, Land Resources Division, UK Ministry of
Overseas Development,no. 198.
BLAIR RAINS A (19 3) Land resources of central Nigeria. Rangeland
and livestock production. Land Resource Report, Land Resources Division,
UK Ministry of Overseas Development, no. 18.
BLAIR RAINS A, LAWTON R M, MANSFIELD J E & ROSE INNES R (1977) Land
resources of central Nigeria. Land Resource Report, Environmental aspects
of the Kaduna Plains, Volume 2, Climate and vegetation, no. 19.
CENTRAL PLANNING OFFICE (un-dated) Third National Development Plan 1975-80.
Lagos: Federal Ministry of Economic Development.
CHARNEY J G (1975) Dynamics of desert and drought in the Sahel. Quarterly
Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 101, 193-202.
127

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (1974) Soil Map of the World. Vol. 1.
Legend. Paris: UNESCO.
FERGUSON I S (1973) The economics of plantation forestry in the savanna
-region. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organisation.
GOSDEN P N (1978) Land resources of central Nigeria. Farming systems.
Land Resource Report, Land Resources Division, UK Ministry of Overseas
Development, no. 17.
GRUT M (1972) The market for firewood, poles and sawnwood in the major 0
towns and cities in the savanna region. Rome: Food and Agriculture
Organisation.
HOWARD W J (1976a) Land resources of central Nigeria. Landforms, soils
and vegetation of the Benue Valley. Volume 2 Climate and vegetation
Land Resource Report, Land Resources Division, UK Ministry of Overseas
Development,no. 7.
HOWARD W J (1976b) Land resources of central Nigeria. Forestry. Land
Resource Report, Land Resources Division, UK Ministry of Overseas
Development, no. 9.
INSTITUTE FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY (1976)
Notes on the socio-economic and extension programme. Cropping Scheme
Meeting.
JACKSON J K (1974) Silviculture and mensuration, Savannah Forestry Research
Station Nigeria. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organisation.
JACKSON J K & OJO G O A (1973) Productivity of natural woodland and
plantations in the savanna zones of Nigeria. Research Paper (savanna
series), Federal Department of Forest Research Ibadan, no. 20.
KOWAL J M & KNABE D T (1972) An agroclimatological atlas of the northern
states of Nigeria. Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria: Ahmadu Bello University.
128

MANSFIELD J E (1978) Land resources of central Nigeria. The interpreta­
tion of environmental data in terms of limitations to crop growth. Land
Resource Report, Land Resources Division, UK Ministry of Overseas
Development, no. 22.
MANSFIELD J E (1978) The concept of a minimum-sized economic farm
unit for northern Nigeria. Miscellaneous Report, Land Resources Division,
UK Ministry of Overseas Development,no. 233.
NORMAN D W (1972) An economic study of three villages in Zaria Province.
2, Input-output study. Volume i, Text. Samaru Miscellaneous Paper,
Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria,
no. 37.
NORMAN D W (1972) An economic survey of three villages in Zaria Province.
2, Input-output study. Volume ii, Basic data and survey forms. Samaru
Miscellaneous Paper, Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello
University, Nigeria, no. 38.
NORMAN D W, BEEDEN P, KROEKER W J, PRYOR D H, HUIZING A B & HAYS H M (1976a)
The feasibility of improved sole crop maize production technology for the
small-scale farmer in the Northern Guinea Savanna Zone of Nigeria. Samaru
Miscellaneous Paper, Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello
University, no. 59.
NORMAN D W, BEEDEN P, KROEKER W J, PRYOR D H, HUIZING ABS HAYS H M (1976b)
The feasibility of improved sole-crop sorghum production technology for the
small-scale farmer in the Northern Guinea Savanna Zone of Nigeria. Samaru
Miscellaneous Paper, Institute for Agricultural Research Ahmadu Bello
University, no. 60.
TAYLOR N H & POHLEN I J (1962) Soil sruvey method. Soil Bureau Bulletin,
New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, no. 25.
THULIN S (1970) Wood requirements in the savanna region of Nigeria. Rome:
United Nations Development Programme, Food and Agriculture Organisation.
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Handbook, US Department of Agriculture, no. 18.
129

WALKER J & ROWNTREE P R (1976) The effect of soil moisture on
circulation and rainfall in a tropical model,Meteorological Office
Technical Note, no. 11/62.
WILLIAMS C N & JOSEPH K T (1970) Climate, soil and crop production in the
humid tropics, London: Oxford University Press.
130

Appendixes
1. Interpretation of soil data
2• Assessment of erosion hazard
3. Minimum size of economic farm units
4. Evaluation of the growth potential of forest reserves

Appendix 1 Interpretation of soil data
The soil physical properties of depth, drainage, texture of the surface
50 cm and the amount of coarse material are considered to have an
important effect on crop production. They are all properties that cannot
be modified without major soil improvement programmes. They have been
divided into classes and given a coded annotation: each class has been
assessed as a nil, minor, moderate or severe limitation to the growth of
maize, millet, sorghum, groundnuts, cotton or yam.
In addition to soil physical properties, certain chemical properties may
be limiting to crop growth. Data are available for pH, CEC, levels of
potassium and available phosphorus, and each of these has also been
divided into classes and assessed as a limitation to the growth of the
crops considered.
Each of the soil properties is discussed below. The classes into which
they have been divided, and their coded annotation, are given in the tables,
together with the assessment of each class as a limitation to the growth
of the crops considered.
Depth
The effective depth of the soil is considered to be that depth beyond which
roots will not readily penetrate due to the presence of rock, ironpan or a
permanent high water table. The depth classes and codes are given in
Table 1 and assessed as limitations to the growth of crops.
Although all the crops discussed are grown almost everywhere on ridges
or mounds, it is assumed in this study that the depth classes in Table 1
are from a level surface.
Al

TABLE 1 Soil depth as a factor limiting the growth of certain crops
Depth
class
cm
>150
150-100
100-50
50-25
140-day
rainy
period
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Sev.
Cotton
Shallow soils limit root development, thus inhibiting nutrient and moisture
Nil
Nil
Mod.
Sev.
Sev.
uptake which results in low yields. Shallowness is least limiting to
shallow-rooting crops such as groundnuts. Even soils of 50-25 cm depth
impose no limitations to groundnuts if the rainy period is greater than
140 days, as significant periods of water stress are unlikely. Shallowness
is most limiting for cotton which is a deep-rooting crop that also requires
soil moisture after the end of the rainy season for optimum yields.
Drainage
Soil drainage has been assessed on the basis of soil colour, with pale
colours being correlated with poor drainage. The criteria used are similar
to those given in the Legend to the Soil Map of the World (FAO, 1974).
Imperfectly drained soils have been subdivided and the soil codes W2-W4
represent a seasonal watertable increasingly closer to the surface. The
only certain way of determining the drainage characteristics of a soil is
to record seasonal watertable fluctuations, but this was not possible over
such a large area: the drainage classes should therefore be considered as
tentative.
The drainage classes and codes are given in Table 2 and the assessment of
these classes as limitations of the growth of crops in Table 3.
A2

TABLE 2 Soil drainage classes defined on the basis of colour
Drainage class Colour criteria and depth Soil code
Well drained 1. Soils lacking properties of
codes W1-W5
2. Gleyic horizon colour or
>20% gley-spot mottle
at 100-150 cm
Imperfectly drained 1. >20% gley-spot mottles
at 50-100 cm
2. Gley horizon matrix
colours at 50-100 cm
3. >10% gley-spot mottles or
imperfect matrix colours
at

soils; groundnuts, cowpeas and other legume crops are particularly
adversely affected by waterlogging. Shallow-rooting crops such as
groundnuts are less affected by waterlogging in the lower part of the
soil profile, whilst deep-rooting crops such as cotton are most affected.
Although sorghum and maize have similar rooting habits, the former is more
tolerant of wet conditions in the later stages of growth. The limitations
imposed by drainage shown in Table 3 reflect the fact that the soil codes
W0-W5 are thought to represent seasonal water saturation increasingly near
the surface.
A complicating factor in assessing the limitation imposed by imperfectly
drained soils is that in a dry year, such soils support better crop
growth. This is offset over the long term by the fact that in a wet year
soils may be even more limiting than is shown in Table 3.
Texture
Texture of the surface 50 cm only is considered because most of the
feeding roots of annual crops are concentrated there.
Four broad textural groups have been defined corresponding in general to
clayey, loamy, sandy and coarse sandy soils. The textural classes in
each group are shown in Table 4, together with the assessement of these
groups as limiting the growth of certain crops.
A4

TABLE 4 Soil texture as a factor limiting the growth of certain crops
Texture class
CL, C, SC, SiCL, SiC
L, SCL, SiL, Si
S, fS, LS, LfS, SL, fSL
cS, LcS, cSL
Soil
Limitation of the growth of
code
* Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnut Cotton Yam//
Tl
T2
T3
T3c
Nil
Nil
Min.
Min.
Min.
Min.
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Min.
Min.
Min.
Min.
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Min./
Mod.
* Where appropriate a subscript + is given to those profiles where
10-20 cm has a finer texture.
Where appropriate a subscript - is given to those profiles where
10-20 cm has a coarse texture. .
// On large ridges or mounds where rainy period exceeds 180 days
/ For cotton T3 + is a minor limitation (t), T3 is treated as a
moderate limitation (Ta) with regard to Soil Category 2 but as a
minor limitation when considering effect of texture in Categories
3, 4 or 5.
C = clay, L = loam, S = sand, fS = fine sand, cS = coarse sand,
Si = silt
The four textural groups reflect differences in available waterholding
capacity (Williams and Joseph, 19 70). This is of particular signifi­
cance in assessing the limitations presented by any soil to the growth
Nil
Nil
Mod.
Mod.
of cotton and long season maiwa millet which require a minimum of 11.8 cm
and 7.2 cm of available soil water after the end of the rainy period
respectively.
Calculation of the mean depths of soil required for various textural
groups to hold the above amount of water indicates that, apart from
es, cis, csl (T3C group), the differences are less than 20 cm and the
variation in AWC (available water capacity) due to texture has little
practical significance for most raihfed crops.
Nutrient availability and aeration are also related to texture so that
maize, sorghum and cotton require medium- and fine-textured soils for
optimum yields but early millet and groundnuts will yield adequately on
coarser-textured soils. In the case of groundnuts this is an indirect
effect as they will grow well on heavier soils, but are difficult to
harvest. Management of heavy clay soils, particularly of montmorillonitic
A5

clays, may also be a limitation because: (a) they become sticky and puddle
when wet, (b) they crack on drying out which may cause rupture of roots,
(c) in the early rains rain water flows rapidly down the cracks with
little moisture retained near the surface: when the cracks close, water
tends to stand on the surface.
Coarse material
This includes all the hard soil particles greater than 2 mm in diameter;
they may be rock fragments, mineral grains or concretions. Both the
amount of coarse material and the depth over which it occurs are signifi­
cant to crop growth, and in Table 5 various combinations of percentages
of coarse material and the depths at which they occur are used to
define seven classes shown as CO to C6. The percentage of coarse material
is assessed in the field as a volume percentage.
TABLE 5 Percentage of coarse material in various depth ranges in
Mean coarse material
percentages
seven classes represented by codes CO to C6
Depth ranges over which
coarse material occurs
Soil code
•£. 20 O-lOO cm CO
«.20
20-40
0-50 cm
50-100 cm
20-40 O-lOO cm C2
20-40
40- 60
•Z. 40
> 60/rock/hardpan
0-50 cm
50-100 cm
0-50 cm
from 50 cm
CI
C3
C3(s)
40-60 0-100 cm C4
40- 60
> 60
40-60
rock/hardpan
0-50 cm
50-100 cm
0-50 cm
O-lOO cm
C5
C5(s)
>60 O-lOO cm C6
>60
>60
(s) shallow
0-50 cm
50-100 cm
A6
C6

The assessment of coarse material as limiting the growth of certain crops
is given in Table 6.
TABLE 6 Coarse material as a factor limiting the growth of certain
crops
Soil
Limitation to the growth of
code
Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnut Cotton Yam*
CO
CI
C2
C3
C3s
C4
C5
C5s
C6
Nil
Nil
Min.
Min.
Min.
Mod.
Mod.
Mod.
Sev.
Nil
Nil
Min.
Min.
Min.
Mod.
Mod.
Mod.
Sev.
*0n large ridges or mounds
Nil
Nil
Min.
Min.
Min.
Mod.
Mod.
Mod.
Sev.
Nil
Nil
Min.
Min.
Min.
Mod.
Mod.
Mod.
Sev.
Nil
Min.
Min.
Mod.
Sev.
Mod.
Sev.
Sev.
Sev.
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Mod.
Mod.
Mod.
Sev.
Coarse material reduces available waterholding capacity by reducing the
volume of soil so that its effect is most pronounced on cotton which
requires moisture after the end of the rains to give maximum yields. .
To a lesser extent this also adversely affects the yields of maize,
millet and sorghum. Coarse material also affects root penentration and
reduces overall nutrient status. Large amounts of coarse material in the
surface horizons of soils may make cultivation more difficult and thus
have an indirect effect on crop production.
Soil chemical properties
Low levels of certain soil chemical properties can limit crop yields. The
most important for which data from routine soil analyses are available
are considered to be 1. Soil pH (water), 2. Phosphorus, 3. Potassium,
and 4. Cation exchange capacity (CEC).
A7

1. pH (water) The limitations due to pH are shown in Table 7.
TABLE 7 Limitations imposed by pH to the growth of certain crops
Crop pH range (water) Limitation
Maize 5.5-7.5 Nil
5.2-5.4 Minor
4.5-5.1 or 7.6-8.0 Moderate
8.0 Severe
Sorghum 5.5-7.5 Nil
5.0-5.4 Minor
4.5-4.9 or 7.6-8.0 Moderate
4.5 or 8.0 Severe
Millet 5.0-6.5 Nil
4.5-4.9 or 6.6-7.O Minor
4.0-4.4 or 7.1-8.0 Moderate
8.0 Severe
Rice (swamp) 4.5-7.0 Nil
3.0-4.4 or 7.1-7.5 Minor
7.6-8.O Moderate
8.0 Severe
Cotton 5.0-6.0 Nil
4.5-4.9 or 6.1-6.5 Minor
4.0-4.4 or 6.6-7.5 Moderate
7.5 Severe
Groundnuts 5.5-6.5 Nil
5.0-5.4 or 6.6-7.O Minor
4.5-4.9 or 7.1-7.5 Moderate
7.5 Severe
Yam (on large ridge 5.0-7.O Nil
or mounds) 4.5-4.9 or 7.1-7.5 Minor
4.0-4.4 or 7.6-7.8 Moderate
8.0 Severe
2. Phosphorus There are not sufficient data on phosphorus availability
as determined by the Truog method to make generalisations related to land
systems. Phosphorus availability is related to pH and the limitations due
to phosphorus availability were assessed as in Table 9.
Ab

TABLE 8 Limitations due to phosphorus availability related to pH
6.5-7.5
pH Limitation
6.0-6.49 7.51-8.0
5.0-5.9 8.1-8.5
4.5 0.15 meq/lOO gm soil Luxury
0.1-0.15 " " " " Adequate

Soil limitation categories (SLC)
Limitations due to any of the factors discussed above may occur in soils
in a variety of combinations. For example, reference to Table 1, 5 and 6
shows that a soil of 25-50 cm depth with a high percentage of coarse
material would have two severe limitations to the growth of any of the
crops considered whilst a soil of similar depth and no coarse material is
considered to have only one severe limitation (due to depth) for cotton and
only a moderate limitation for maize or millet or sorghum.
Various combinations of nil, minor, moderate and severe limitations have
been used to define five soil limitation categories (Table 9) , based on
the limitations due only to the physical characteristics.
No attempt has been made to consider the interrelationships of the physical
and chemical soil characteristics. A soil is placed in a soil limitation
category on the basis of its physical characteristics; any limitation due
to chemical characteristics is noted separately.
As the soil characteristics vary in their significance for different
crops it follows that the limitation category is specific to a given crop.
Soil limitations in relation to crop yields
An attempt was made to check whether the soil limitations are related to
actual crop production. The yield of a variety of crops grown on state
demonstration plots were collected. However, differences in yield due
to climatic or management factors were so great that it was not possible
to correlate differences in yields with soil differences. In other
experiments done in the project area information about the soils is
generally inadequate.
The soil limitation categories must, therefore, be considered tentative
but, in so far as they have been defined after discussion with a wide range
of research workers and practising agriculturalists in Nigeria, they can
be considered as a consensus opinion of the limitations imposed by soil
characteristics to the growth of crops.
AlQ

TABLE 9a Nature and degree of limitations shown in Table 9b
Nature of limitation
Depth (D)
Drainage (W)
Texture (T)
Coarse material (C)
Degree of limitation
Nil Minor Moderate Severe
O
0
0
0
not used
w
t
c
D
W
Ta, Tb*
C
*Ta or Tb are treated as a moderate limitation for Categories
1 and 2 only. For Categories 3, 4 and 5 they are treated as
a minor limitation
D
W
not used
C
TABLE 9b Combinations of the degrees of limitation acceptable in each
soil limitation category for maize, millet, sorghum, groundnut,
cotton and yam (grown on mounds or large ridges)
Soil limitation category
1 2 3 4 5
0 w
v
D Dw DW + or - c, t, or Ta
t wt Dt DWC + or - t, or Ta
c wTa DTa DWC + or - t, or Ta
wt* wtc/ Dwt/ DWC
tc* wTac DwTa DC + or - t, Ta or Tb
wc Dtc DC + or - t, Ta, or Tb
W DTac D + or - any combination
Wt Dc WC + or - t, or Ta
WTa WC WC + or - t, or Ta
tc wtC/ WC + or - t, or Ta
tc wTaC TbC
TaC wtC** Tbc
Ta WTac**
Tb Wc
C WC
W
WTa
Wtc
Wc
tc
TaC
C
*These combinations permitted in this category for sorghum and millet only
/For maize if code is ¥3(v) for this combination the drainage becomes a moderate limitation (¥)
For sorghum if code is ¥3(w) for thi s combination the drainage becomes a moderate limitation (¥)
**For cotton if code is ¥3(¥) for thi s combination the drainage becomes a severe limitation (¥_}
Ta Texture limitation applicable to cotton only
Tb Texture limitation applicable to yam only when grown in areas with 180-199 day rainy
period
All

Soil limitation categories in relation to land systems
The land system shown on Separate Map 1 and described in Land Resources
Report 19 (Bennett et al., 1977) are defined in terms of the landform,
soils and vegetation.
For the purpose of assessing the value of each land system for cropping,
the soil series (op. cit.) are first grouped according to depth, drainage,
texture of the surface 50 cm and amount of coarse material; the groups are
represented by codes as discussed earlier in this appendix.
An estimate is then made of the percentage of each land system occupied by
soils of a given code. This is achieved by measuring on representative
air photographs the area of land facets in every land system, except for
those facets occupying less than a mean 18% (11-25% range). These facets
together usually comprise more than 70% of a land system.
The soil pits which have been described on each facet are each given a code.
The number of pits of a given code, as a percentage of the total number
of pits on the facet, is taken as the percentage of the facet occupied by
soils of that code. As these percentages are only indicative they are
given in percentage classes of 60.
The facets for which there are a large number of described soil pits will
clearly have a more reliable code than facets with only one or two described
pits.
Soils of a given code can be assigned to one of the five limitation
categories defined in the previous section. A land system can, therefore,
be defined in terms of percentages of various limitation categories by
summing the relative proportions of facets.
For example, in Land System 18 (Table 10) the soils are in three groups.
30-59% of the land system has soils coded as DVJ T + C i.e. soils of
50-100 cm depth, well drained, coarse-textured surface horizons and 20-40%
coarse material scattered throughout the soil profile. Shallow depth, free
drainage and coarse texture are not limiting to the growth of millet, but
the coarse material is considered as a minor limitation (See Tables 1, 3,
4 and 6.) As the soil has only one minor physical limitation for millet,
A12

it is classed as limitation category 2 (See Table 9.) In the case of
maize, the texture and the coarse material are both considered as minor
limitations and by reference to Table 9 the soil is placed in soil
limitation category 3.
TABLE 10 Percentage of soils of various codes in Land System 18 and
Land
system
18 2
their relationship to soil limitation categories for certain
crops
Soil code % of land
system in
Soil limitation category by crop
D W T C each code Maize Millet Sorghum Groundnut Cotton
2
1
0
O
0
3+
3+
3+
Ranking of land systems
2
5
O
30-59
10-29
10-29
Land systems with the highest proportion of SLC 1 land have least limitations
to the growth of a given crop. If two land systems have a high proportion of
SLC 1 land, the one in which the remaining land is SLC 2 or 3 can be
considered to be better than the one in which the remaining land is SLC 4 or
5.
A land system is considered especially favourable for the production of a
crop if it has one of the following combinations of SLCs:
- at least 30-50% SLC 1 + any other SLC
- > s 60% SLC 2
- at least 30-50% SLC 2 + 10-29% SLC 1
- 30-59% SLC 2 + 10-29% SLC 3
- 10-29% SLC 1 + 10-29% SLC 2 + 10-29% SLC 3.
Land systems with these combinations of soil limitation categories are shown
on the legend of Separate Map 3. The legend of Separate Map 1 shows the
percentages of the soil limitation categories in all the land systems in
the area.
3
3
2
«13
2
3
1
2
3
2
2
3
1
4
5
3

Appendix 2 Assessment of erosion hazard
Erosion hazard has been assessed on the assumption that open-field clean
cultivation techniques are to be used. Three main factors affect the
degree of erosion to which an area is subject; the length and steepness
of slope, the duration and intensity of rainfall and the infiltration
characteristics of the soil.
Slope is taken as the most important variable in the assessment of erosion
hazard. Four slope categories have been defined.
a) 1% (0.5 ) These areas should not require mechanical protection
works. The use of grass strips and contour ploughing should give adequate
erosion control.
b) 1-3% CO.6-1.75 ) These areas require normal mechanical protection
works which include graded terraces and grassed protected waterways.
Contour ploughing and strip cropping should be practised. Mean contour
intervals should range between 46-88 m.
c) 3.1-10% (1.76-6°) These areas require normal mechanical protection
works organised on a catchment rather than an individual farm basis. They
should not be used for large-scale mechanised farming schemes based on the
rainfed crops considered in this report: the short, inter-terrace
intervals and complexity of the layout mean that economic running of
machinery is extremely difficult and is only worthwhile for high-value
crops such as tobacco.
d) > 10% (6 ) These areas have a high erosion hazard and intensive
conservation measures such as bench terracing are required. They are more
suited to tree crops than arable crops. Total protection is recommended.
Data are not available for the project area on the duration and intensity
of rainfall, but the start of the rainy season is characterised by short,
heavy, violent rainstorms, having a high erosive power. It was not possible
to subdivide the area according to the rainfall pattern.
A15

Many of the silty or fine sandy surface soils in the Kaduna Plains
rapidly form a capping which reduces infilatration at the beginning of
the rainy' period: trampling by cattle may add to the problem. No
quantitative measurements have been made so there has been no attempt
to rank the soils according to their infiltration characteristics.
Alb

Appendix 3 Minimum size of economic
farm units
It is suggested by Mansfield (1978) that, in order to be economically
attractive, a farm should produce a minimum net income of » 740/annum,
the lowest institutional wage in 1976. A model has been produced, using
(where possible) 'hard' data collected by the socioeconomic branch of
the Institute of Agricultural Research, Samaru, to estimate the minimum
sized holding required to achieve this level of income, using prices
current at the time.
In the model, the following assumptions have been made:
1. The farming systems are based on annual rainfed crops only
2. Apart from his food crop area, the farmer puts down the remainder
of his farm to the cash crop which will bring him the highest net
return per unit area
3. The crops considered are maize, sorghum, groundnut, cotton and
cowpeas
4. The cash crop chosen should be the one with the least environmental
limitations for the area (see Appendix 1)
5. The farmer uses improved practices such as early planting, improved
seed, fertiliser, good weeding and use of pesticides where
appropriate. Yields are based on mean yields obtained by farmers
carrying out these practices in' surveyed villages.
6. An'average farmer has 2.1 adult equivalents of family labour. The
family spends a mean of 4 hours/day working 6 days a week, giving
an annual labour potential of 2621 man hours or a monthly potential
of 218 man hours
7. When using oxen, the farmer has one pair only of work oxen which
he feeds entirely on the farm throughout the year. For this he grows
4 acres of planted pasture, in addition to arable crops
A17

8. In practice, a farmer is unlikely to plant all his non-food-crop
area with one cash crop. Any combination of crops which he may grow
will therefore involve a larger area than obtained from the model
in order to attain the same minimum net return
Three types of farm are considered:
Type 1. Using hand labour* only
Type 2. Using hand labour* and draught oxen (for primarary
cultivations)
Type 3. Using hand labour*, draught oxen and herbicides to
control interplant weeds.
When dealing with labour inputs, two approaches have been used. The first
relates the total manhour requirements for growing and harvesting the crop
to the labour potential of the farmer over the same period of time in
order to decide whether hired labour is required. The second takes into
account monthly family labour bottlenecks using cumulative net returns
per month.
The theoretically calculated farm sizes are given in Table 1 for farms
with no fallow and farms where one third of the farmed area is under
fallow.
*Family, + or - hired labour.
Alb

TABLE 1 The minimum size of farm unit required to produce an annual
Farm type
1. Hand labour
only
net income of & 740 for different types of farm and various
cash crops
2. Family labour +
draught oxen
3. Hand labour +
draught oxen
+ herbicides
Selected
cash crop
Maize
Sorghum
Cotton
Groundnut
Cowpea
Maize
Sorghum
Cotton
Groundnut
Cowpea
Maize
Sorghum
Cotton
Groundnut
Cowpea
No fallow 1/3 fallow
(a) (b) (a) (b)
ac ha ac ha ac ha ac ha
14.5
68.4
9.2
9.2
8.6
16.4
42.9
14.0
14.0
13.2
16.1
38.0
14.0
14.0
12.9
5.9
27.7
3.7
3.7
3.5
6.6
17.4
5.7
5.7
5.3
6.5
15.4
5.7
5.7
5.2
14.6
72.9
9.3
10.1
8.5
17.1
36.9
14.0
14.3
13.2
n.a.
ii
ii
II
5.9
29.5
3.8
4.1
3.4
6.9
14.9
5.7
5.8
5.3
21.7
102.6
13.8
13.8
12.9
17.8
57.5
14.1
14.1
17.5
17.3
50.0
14.1
14.1
17.0
8.8
41.6
5.6
5.6
5.2
7.2
23.3
5.7
5.7
7.1
7.0
20.3
5.7
5.7
6.9
21.9
109.4
14.0
15.2
12.7
18.9
48.5
14.1
14.5
17.5
n.a.
a) Area required to earn target income assuming no monthly family
labour constraint
b) Area required to earn target income allowing for monthly family
labour constraint
n.a. Data not available
A19
II
II
it
.II
8.9
44.3
5.7
6.2
5.1
7.7
19.6
5.7
5.9
7.1

Appendix 4 Evaluation of the growth potential
of forest reserves
The extent to which a particular soil property is limiting to a plantation
species is estimated by relating measured sample plots to the character­
istics of the underlying soil and from a knowledge of the species' site
requirements. Many soil limitations such as depth and coarse material
inhibit the growth of practically all species, but some species flourish
in conditions that might inhibit the growth of others; for example
Eucalyptus spp. tolerate poorly drained soils whereas teak, Qnelina and
neem do not.
The classes and codes for depth, drainage, texture and coarse material
content of a soil, used to assess limitations to the growth of various
crops, are also used for tree species. In Table 1 these classes are ranked
and given a score for teak, Gmelina, Eucalyptus, neem and Dalbergia. For
any given soil and total limitation score for a species is obtained by
adding the code values that affect that species.
Facets of the land systems are allocated limitation scores according to the
predominant soil series. This information is obtained from the deacription
of the soil series (Bennett et al., 1976). If a facet has dominant soil
series with different limitation scores the percentage that the facet
occupies in the land system is divided between the scores. For example:
In Afaka Forest Reserve in the Kaduna Plains, the main valley side facet
occupies 48% of the land system. Of the two dominant soil series, one
has a limitation score for eucalypts of O and the other has a score of 4.
The 48% is therefore divided equally between the 0-2 and 3-4 limitation
score classes (see Table 2).
The limitation score for any land system is obtained by adding the percentage
in the three classes 0-2, 0-3 and 5-6. This is intended as a very general
guide to the growth potential of a land system for plantation forestry. In
Table 2 the limitation scores for the land systems in the above forest
reserve relevant to this volume are given.
In the forestry report, Howard (1976) has related the increment of the
major plantation species (teak, Gmelina, Eucalyptus and neem) to the soil
A21

TABLE 1 Soil Limitation Scores for teak, Gmellna, Eucalyptus, neom
and Dalbergia
Soil property Soil limitation score (SLC)
Heading Description Code Teak Gmelina Eucalyptus Neem Dalbergia
Depth (D) 150 cm
150-100 cm
50-ICO cm
25- 50 cm
25 cm
Drainage
(W)
•
Free draining
to 150 cm
Imperfect at
ICO cm
Imperfect at
100-50 cm
Poor at lOO-
50 cm
Imperfect at
50 cm
;
Poor at 50 cm
:
i '
i Texture (T)jFine
| Top 50 cm 'Medium
j jCoarse
1 !
! Texture (T) Fine
j 50-150 cm Medium
i
.Coarse
1 Coarse C JNone
material jlow
j 'high
> i
0
1
2
3
4
O
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
[
1
2
3
O
1
2
1
2
3
4
1
1
1
1
2
3
4
1
1
1
1 1
1
2
1
2
3
4
1
2 ! !
i Example: A coded soil description might be D2 W 3 T 3 T 1 C 2
5 This soil would have a limitation score of 2(D) + 1(W) + 2(C)
t
! = 5 for teak. Gmelina or neeiu and a score of:i
[ 2(D) + 2(C) = 4 for Eucalyptus or Dalbergia
i
A22
1
2
3
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
2
3
4
1
2

limitation score. This information is used to provide the growth
potential for the forest reserves. If the land system has more than 50%
land with a score of 0-2, the overall score is taken as 0-2. If the
score is 5-6 over more than 60%, the score is taken as 5-6 and the land
considered unsuitable for plantation forestry. Land systems with
intermediate scores are treated as having a score of 3.
TABLE 2 How the soil limitation scores for the land systems in the
Land
system
forest reserve are worked out (Afaka, the Kaduna Plains)
Facet
422 Ironpan crest
Crest
Valley side
Convex lower slope
Valley bottom
% of
LS
11
11
48
19
10
Soil limitation
score
6
2
0
4
0
no data
Bas 70169/11567/12 700 7/79 P A23
Score as
% of LS
11% 5-6
11% 0-2
24% 0-2
24% 3-4
19% 0-2
Summary % LS
occupied by each
limitation group
54% 0-2
24% 3-4
11% 5-6

Publications of the Land Resources
Development Centre
These publications have a restricted distribution and are not available to
booksellers. The Centre makes a report on each completed project. The
report is published as a Land Resource Study or Technical Bulletin only
with the consent of the government concerned.
»
LAUD RESOURCE STUDY (ISSN 0305-6554)
*1 SPOONER R J & JENKIN R N (1966) The development of the Lower Mgeta
River area of the United Republic of Tanzania (0 902409 75 l).
*2 BAWDEN M G & TULEY P (1966) The land resources of Southern Sardauna
and Southern Adamawa Provinces, Northern Nigeria (O 902409 74 3).
*3 BAWDEN M G & CARROLL D M (1968) The land resources of Lesotho
(0 902409 73 5) •
4 JENKIN R N & POALE M A (1968) An investigation of the coconut growing
potential of Christmas Island (O 902409 71 9).
5 BLAIR RAINS A & McKAY A D (1968) The Northern Statelands, Botswana
(0 902409 70 0).
6 HILL I D (1969) An assessment of the possibilities of oil palm cultivation
in Western Division, The Gambia (O 902409 01 8).
7 MITCHELL A J B (1976) The irrigation potential of soils along the main
rivers of eastern Botswana: a reconnaissance assessment (0 902409 52 2).
8 VERBOOM W C & BRUNT M A (l970) An ecological survey of Western Province,
Zambia, with special reference to fodder resources. Volume 1, The
environment (O 902409 68 9)« Volume 2, The grasslands and their development
(O 902409 69 7)-
•5 AITCHISON P J, BAWDEN M G, CARROLL D M, GLOVER P E, KLINKENBERG K,
LEEUW P N de & TULEY P (1972) The land resources of North East Nigeria.
Volume 1, The environment (O 903359 06 5).
» Out of print

*9 AITCHISON P J & GLOVER P E (1970) The land resources of North East
Nigeria. Volume 2, Tsetse and trypanosomiasis (O 902409 02 6).
*9 BAWDEN M G, CARROLL D M & TULEY P (1972) The land resources of North
East Nigeria. Volume 3, The land systems (O 902409 08 5).
*9 LEEUW P N de, LESSLIE A & TULEY P (1972) The land resources of North
East Nigeria. Volume 4» Present and potential land use (O 903359 H l)•
»
*9 TULEY P èd. (1972) The land resources of North East Nigeria. Volume 5,
Appendixes and tables (0 902409 09 3)•
10 JOHNSON M S (l97l) New Hebrides Condominium. Erromango forest inventory
(0 903359 01 4).
*11 BLAIR RAINS A & YALALA M (1972) The Central and Southern State Lands,
Botswana (O 903359 04 9)•
12 BERRY M J & HOWARD W J (1973) Fiji forest inventpry. Volume 1, The
environment and forestlypes (O 902409 13 l)• Volume 2, Catchment groups
of Viti Levu and Kandavu (O 902409 14 X). Volume 3, Catchment groups
of Vanua Levu (O 902409 15 8).
13 JOHNSON M S & CHAPPEY D R (1973) A forest inventory of part of the
Mountain Pine Ridge, Belize (O 902409 67 0).
14 JOHNSON M S & CHAPPEY D R (1973) An inventory of the Chiquibul Forest
Reserve, Belize (0 902409 17 4).
15 JOHNSON M S & CHAPPEY D R (1974) An inventory of the southern coastal
plain pine forests, Belize (O 902409 22 0).
16 HENRY P W T (1974) Pine forests of the Bahamas (O 902409 18 2).
17 BERRY M J, LAURENCE J P, MAKIM M J & WADDAMS A E (1974) Development
potential of the Nawalparasi area of Nepal (O 902409 16 6).
w Out of print

18 HANSELL J R P & WALL J R D (1974-7) Land resources of the British.
Solomon Islands Protectorate. Volume 1, Introduction and recommendations
(0 902409 59 X). Volume 2, Guadalcanal and the Florida Islands
(0 902409 20 4). Volume 3, Malaita and Ulawa (0 902409 21 2).
Volume 4, New Georgia Group and the Russell Islands (0 902409 37 .9)•
Volume 5, Santa Isabel (O 902409 60 3). Volume 6, Choiseul and the
Shortland Islands (O 902409 61 l). Volume 7, San Cristobal and adjacent
islands» (0 902409 62 X). Volume 8, Outer Islands (O 902409 63 8).
19 .MANSFIELD J E, BENNETT J G, KING R B, LANG D M & LAWTON R M (1975/6)
Land resources of the Northern and Luapula Provinces, Zambia - a
reconnaissance assessment. Volume 1, Introduction, conclusions and
recommendations (0 902409 33 6). Volume 2, Current land use (O 902409 34 4).
Volume 3, Land capability and development potential (O 9024Q9 35 2).
Volume 4» The biophysical environment (0 902409 41 7). Volume 5» Social
and economic factors (0 902409 42 5)• Volume 6, The land systems
(0 902409 51 4).
20 THOMAS P, ACRES B D, BOWER R P, BURROUGH P A, FOLLAND C J, KALSI M S &
WRIGHT P S (1975) The soils of Sabah. Volume 1, Classification and
description (O 902409 26 3). Volume 2, Sandakan and Kinabatangan Districts
(O 902409 27 l). Volume 3, Western parts of Tawau and Lahad Datu Districts .
(O 902409 28 6). Volume 4, South-western Districts (O 902409 29 8).
.Volume 5i References and appendixes (O 902409 30 l).
21 ..MAKIN M J, KINGHAM T J, WADDAMS A E, BIRCHALL C J & TAMENE TEFERRA (1975)
Development prospects in the southern Rift Valley, Ethiopia (0 902409 32 8).
22 DUNSMORE J R, BLAIR RAINS A, LOWE G N, MOFFAT D J, ANDERSON I P &
WILLIAMS J B (1976) The agricultural development of The Gambia; an
agricultural, environmental and socioeconomic analysis (O 902409 64 6).
23 MURDOCH G, OJO-ATERE J, COLBORNE G, OLOMU E I & ODUGBESAN E M (1976) Soils
of the Western State Savanna in Nigeria. Volume 1, The environment
(O 902409 49 2). Volume 2, Descriptions of Basement complex soil series
(O 902409 50 6). Volume 3, Atlas of sample blocks mapped during the siirvey
(0 902409 47 6).

24 JENKIN R N, ROSE INHES R, DUNSMORE J R, WALKER S H, BIRCHALL C J &
BRIGGS J S (1976) The agricultural development potential of the Belize
Valley, Belize (O 902409 39 5).
25 THOMAS P, LO P K C & HEPBURfl A J (1976) Land capability classification
of Sabah. Volume 1, The Tawau Residency. Volume 2, The Sandakan
Residency. Volume 3, The West Coast and Kudat Residencies. Volume 4»
The Interior Residency and Labuan.
26 MAKIN M Jf KINGHAM T J, WADDAMS A E, BIRCHALL C J & EAVIS B W (1976)
Prospects for irrigation development around Lake Zwai, Ethiopia
(0 902409 45 X).
27 LITTLE B G, BUCKLEY D K, CANT R, HENRY PUT, JEPPERISS A, MATHER J D,
STARK J & YOUNG R N (1977) Land resources of the Bahamas: a summary
(O 902409 58 l).
28 JENKIN R N, HOWARD W J, THOMAS P, ABELL T M B & DEANE E C (1977) Forestry
development prospects in the Imatong- Central Forest Reserve, southern
Sudan. Volume 1, Summary (0 902409 65 4). Volume 2, Main report
(O 902409 66 2).
29 LAND RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT CENTRE CENTRAL NIGERIA PROJECT TEAM (edC.I D HILL
& J R D WALL (l978)Land resources of central Nigeria: agricultural
development possibilities. Volume 1A, Bauchi Plains, Executive Summary
(0 902409 80 8). Volume IB, Bauchi Plains (0 902409 81 6). Volume 2A,
Jos Plateau, Executive Summary (O 902409 82 4). Volume 2B, Jos Plateau
(O 902409 83 2). Volume 3A, Jema'a Platform, Executive Summary
(0 902409 84 0). Volume 3B, Jema'a Platform (O 902409 85 9). Volume 4A,
Benue Valley, Executive Summary (O 902409 86 7). Volume 4B, Benue Valley
(O 902409 87 5). Volume 5A, Kaduna Plains, Executive Summary (O 902409 88 3).
Volume 5B, Kaduna Plains (o 902409 89 l). Volume 6A, Kano Plains, Executive
Summery (0 902409 90 5). Volume 6B, Kano Plains (O 902409 91 3).
Volume 7, An atlas of resource maps (0 902409 92 l)
TECHNICAL BULLETINS (ISSN 0309 - 6416)
1 CARROLL D M & BASCOMB C L (1967) Notes on the soils of Lesotho
(0 902409 53 0).

•*2 PIGGOTT C J (1968) A soil survey of Seychelles (O 902409 00 X).
3 WILLIAMS J B (1978) Soil water investigations in The Gambia (O 902409 79 4).
4 WALL J R D, HANSELL J R P, CATT J A, ORMEROD E C, VARLEY J A & WEBB I S
(1979) The soils of the Solomon Islands (0 902409 93 X).
»
LAUD RESOURCE BIBLIOGRAPHIES (ISSN 0309 - 1643)
1' POSNETT N W & REILLY P M comp. (l97l) Bahamas (O 903359 05 7).
2 POSNETT N W, REILLY P M & WHITFIELD P comp. (l97l) Nigeria. Volume 1
(0 903359 07 3). Volume 2 (O 903359 08 l). Volume 3 (0 903359 09 X).
3 POSNETT N W & REILLY P M comp. (1973) Belize (British Honduras)
(0 902409 10 7).
4 POSNETT N W & REILLY P M comp. (1973) Fiji (0 902409 11 5).
5 GREENWAY M E, POSNETT N W & REILLY P M comp. (1974) New Hebrides and
New Caledonia (O 902409 12 3).
6 REILLY PM comp. (1974) Nepal (O 902409 19 08).
7 POSNETT N W & REILLY P M comp. (1975) Solomon Islands (O 902409 24 7).
8 REILLY P M comp. (1976) Sabah, Malaysia (0 902409 36 0).
9 POSNETT N W & REILLY P M comp. (1977) Zambia (O 902409 43 3>.
10 REILLY P M comp. (1978) Ethiopia (O 902409 76 X).
11 REILLY P M comp. (1978) Yemen Arab Republic (O 902409 77 8)
12 POSNETT N W & REILLY P M comp. (1978) Dominica (O 902409 78 6).
* Out of print