Volume 62, Issue 341, May - August 2026

Estimates of Nutrient Loss from Gully Erosion and its Economic Implications Around Tsokundi Area, Taraba State, Nigeria

Tekwa IJ¹, Angyu MD^1♦

¹Department of Soil Science and Land Resources Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Federal University Wukari, P.M.B 1020, Wukari Taraba State, Nigeria

^♦Corresponding Author
Angyu MD, Department of Soil Science and Land Resources Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Federal University Wukari, P.M.B 1020, Wukari Taraba State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Gully erosion, a severe form of land degradation, results in significant losses of soil nutrients. These losses reduce agricultural productivity and imposing substantial financial burdens on farmers. Three locations were selected at Tsokundi ward, Wukari Taraba State for the study. Three locations in the Tsokundi area of Wukari, Taraba State, Tsokundi, Gidan Idi and Avyi-Agbon, were surveyed for gully erosion between June and November in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Soil samples collected from gully sites were analyzed for some physical and chemical properties. The Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium contents were used to estimate nutrient losses and the associated financial implications based on the prevailing market prices of fertilizers. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the data and significant differences between means were determined using the t-test at the 5% probability level (p ≤ 0.05). The results showed that gully erosion resulted in Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium losses equivalent to 0.05–5.8 bags of fertilizer, with the associated financial losses ranging from ₦90 to ₦145,000 in 2022. In 2023, nutrient losses due to gully erosion were equivalent to 0.02–2.17 bags of fertilizer, resulting in estimated financial losses ranging from ₦460 to ₦238,840. The study recommends the implementation of effective erosion control measures to reduce further losses of essential soil nutrients with the view to minimizing the financial burden on farmers in the study area.

Keywords: Gully erosion, nutrient depletion, soil fertility loss, economic evaluation, land degradation.

Discovery, 2026, 62, e19d3287

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Published: 18 July 2026