FARMERS’ PERCEPTION ON CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND CONSERVATION PRACTICES TOWARD SOIL DEGRADATION IN ABAY CHOMAN WOREDA HORRO GUDURU WOLLEGA ZONE, OROMIA NATIONAL REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Soil is a key component of the earth system that offers the human society many resources, which needs much attention in its use and management. The objective of the study was to assess perception on the causes, the consequences of soil degradation, and conservation measures have taken in Abay Choman Woreda, To achieve these objectives mixed research design was employed, 266 respondents were selected by using systematic random sampling techniques based on the list of the name of households heads. Both quantitative and qualitative data collected by using questionnaire, interviews, focus group discussion, and field observation. The gathered data analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques of liker scale and chi-square. Finally, the results presented using tables. As a result, the impact of soil degradation has major implication for the society from economic, social and environmental perspectives. Loss of top soil, decline in fertility and productivity of soil, loss of biodiversity, illiteracy and poverty are among the consequences of soil degradation. Traditional and modern conservations have been taken by farmers, but some factors were affecting them in adopting structural conservation measures, such as low interst of farmers’ to construct structutal conservations, it needs high labor force that cannot be performed by individual farmer, decreasing farm size, time wastage, they worked in limited areas for defined time. On the basisi of the findings, it was recommended that execution of sustainable agricultural practices to maintain the loss of top soil, minimizing the the expansion of agricultural lands in to forest and grazing land, rising women’s, single and low educational levels and young farmes’ participation in soilconservation measures educating, and conviencing farmers’to implement agr-forestry and intercropping on their farm lands were some of the recommendetions.