The need for sustainable rice production in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized. Since rice can be grown both under rain-fed and irrigated conditions, the need for soil suitability evaluation becomes very necessary in order for supply to meet up with demand. Six land qualities viz; climate, soil physical properties, drainage, fertility status, workability and erosion were matched with irrigated rice land use requirements. The current suitability evaluation of Tomas irrigation scheme for irrigated rice, using the nonparametric method indicates that all the mapping units fall into the marginally suitable (S3fs) class, with low fertility status and coarse sandy texture as major limitations. The parametric method reveals that all the mapping units had an index of current productivity (IPC) of 5.63 (N2) which is permanently not suitable. Tomas irrigation scheme was found to be potentially moderately suitable (S2) for irrigated rice production using non-parametric method after the soil fertility status was amended.
Key words: Rice, irrigation, Suitability, Sustainability
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