Life Science Journal 2012;9(4) http://www.lifesciencesite.com 2769 Statistical Evaluation of Sustainability of Selected Crop Production in Nigeria Abayomi Samuel Oyekale Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, North-West University Mafikeng Campus, Mmabatho 2735 South Africa. asoyekale@gmail.com Abstract: Sustainable agricultural production is a paramount goal of many developing countries in order to ensure that foods required for the growing population are available in the right quantity and quality. This paper evaluated the extent of sustainability of the Nigerian crop production sector using secondary data from the FAO statistical database. Inferences of sustainability was made with contingency table developed by Monteith (1990) after computing geometric growth rates of land use and crop outputs. Results show that production of majority of the crops was not recently sustainable. Between 1961 and 1980, cereals (4.07%), maize (8.17%), sorghum (5.16%), millet (3.76%), yam (1.08%), kolanut (0.92%), oil palm (0.93%), vegetables and melon (0.82%) and plantain (2.53%) were sustainably cultivated while only cocoa (0.14%) and kolanut (1.82) percent show sustainability between 1981 and 2000. The findings suggest that ensuring sustainability of crop production in Nigeria requires adequate investments in highly productive farm technologies to make up for degradation of soil resources. [Abayomi Samuel Oyekale. Statistical Evaluation of Sustainability of Selected Crop Production in Nigeria. Life Sci J 2012;9(4):2769-2775] (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com .. 408 Keywords: sustainability, contingency table, crops, Nigeria 1. Introduction Agriculture is the most dominant sector in the economies of many sub-Saharan African nations. This is partly because the food it provides is the basis for human existence. However, it is paradoxical to note that as population grows, the food need of nations increases, but the arable land needed to grow the food becomes scarcer. In Nigeria, persistent stagnation in agricultural production is now a matter of serious concern. Although outputs in some crops have recently increased, it had been realized that most of these increases resulted from increase in land areas cultivated (Falusi, 1997). Thus, increasing crop production puts more pressure on the forest, and it is not sure whether this can be sustained as population further increases. A growing awareness now exists of the fact that attainment of food security has gone beyond availability of improved production technologies, but the natural resource base upon which crop production ultimately depends must be appropriately managed and conserved (Mwale, 1998). In this respect, national governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are now actively involved in the development of workable natural resource conservation strategies in order to reverse the negative synergy developing from increased demographic pressure, environmental degradation and food insecurity. Moreover, it had been realized that the traditional agricultural production system was stable and biologically conducive to soil nutrient replenishment because of the long fallow period (Scherr, 1999). But with increasing demographic pressure in many of the SSA countries, crop production has expanded to marginal lands and fallow periods have drastically reduced. There is now increase in the rates of forest clearing for agricultural production, and degradation of farmlands and decline in yields of crops persists (Pinstrup-Andensen et al., 2001). Furthermore, the peculiar characteristics of the humid tropical soils which are sandy, highly weathered, low in organic matter, and highly susceptible to soil erosion, nutrient depletion and compaction have worsened the situation (Pinstrup- Andensen and Pandya-Lorch, 2001). The implication of all these on SSA agriculture now poses a great challenge of how to meet the food needs of the ever growing population without irreversibly damaging the fragile land resource base to food policy makers (Pretty, 2001). In Nigeria, the issues of concern to sustainable agriculture include the problems of soil vis-à-vis human induced soil degradation, bush burning and soil compaction (FAO, 2000). The problem of resource degradation has been identified as the most crucial environmental challenge that faces the nation (World Bank, 1990a). This conclusion was reached based on its great economic significance, the wide area of land that is affected, and the large number of people whose economic activities are directly hampered. Specifically, the problem of land degradation affects about 50 million Nigerians, and an estimated annual cost of US $3 billion is to be borne by the Federal Government. However, this conservative estimate only reflects the cost of food replacement through importation without considering