Effects of Petroleum Exploitation on Spatial Pattern of Agricultural Production in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Land and associated resources are crucial factors of agricultural production; hence, continuous petroleum exploitation activities cause an imbalance in the ecosystem and subsequently on agriculture. Against this background, this study examines the effects of petroleum exploitation on spatial pattern of agricultural production in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. The primary source is a sample of 320 farmers chosen at random from two settlements selected from and outside Abura (OML 65) oil producing field. The questionnaire covered social and demographic characteristics of farmers and effects of petroleum exploitation on distance to farms, number, sizes of farms and output. Descriptive statistics and the pair-wise Student‟s t-test were used to analysed data collected for the study. The study reveals that petroleum exploitation resulted in increased distance to farms, reduced farm number and sizes and decreased agricultural output. There were significant differences in distance to farms (t= 1.000, df=9, p<0.05), farm sizes (t =1.000, df=9; p<0.05) and agricultural output (t=0.578, df=9, p<0.05) of the two settlements selected from and outside oil producing field. Impact evaluation of petroleum exploitation activities is recommended for sustainable development of agriculture in the study area.