Abstract

Man’s attempt to improve his income and also supplement his food especially during dry season in the old Ogoja zone has led him to develop dry season farming along watershed. Man’s farming activities mainly for market gardening has impacted in no small way on the environment which has resulted in the reduction of rainfall volume, increase temperature, biodiversity depletion and soil fertility loss. In this research which spans a period of five years, the activities of these market gardeners were critically assessed; we collected data from the field in three folds, temperature data by measuring temperature on the farm site twice every year. During the rainy season and during the dry season. We also collected rainfall data for the same period under study. We went further to collect soil moisture data. We used simple analysis to compare the temperature and rainfall data from 2005 to 2009 when the research was initiated. It was discovered from the research that the market gardening activities as carried out in the area have potentially impacted on the environment. We concluded that if nothing is done to reduce this trend, it will lead to global climate problems. We proffered some suggestions as to reduce this trend in the study area through the use of water from a reservoir or hand dug well and also such farms should be cultivated away from watershed and water courses. We equally suggested that the use of inorganic artificial fertilizer should be replaced with the use of organic manure like composting and farm yard manure from the leaf litters and the grasses removed from land clearance in the farm.

Key words: Market gardening, eutrophication, enthrophication, ecological change, global impact, inorganic and organic manure and watershed depletion.