Abegaz, Assefa (PhD)Dejenie, Tadesse2018-07-032023-11-192018-07-032023-11-192011-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/5971Farmland is so matchless precious natural resource which is vital for gainful agricultural production that calls for improved and efficient management practices. Thus, in order to utilize it in a sustainable manner, numerous management practices can be involved at a given farmland. The intention can be to control soil erosion, insects and weeds and /or to maintain its fertility which is vital to maximize productivity. There are various time-honored indigenous farmland management practices in Gozamen Woreda (District) which serve as a base to carry out improved land management systems. There are some newly introduced methods in practice as well. Nevertheless, the Woreda is still characterized by poor farmland management practices. Accordingly, this research was aimed to assess the practical indigenous and modern farmland management practices and aspects, to examine positive and negative impacts of each of the land management practices in terms of agricultural productivity and environmental protection and to assess the major determining factors of adoption and implementation of improved farmland management practices in the study area with special reference to two sample Kebeles (Chertekel and May Angetam). Through employing questionnaires, key informant interviews, field observation and case studies, it was found that although different introduced farmland management methods are put in practice in Gozamen, traditional management practices take the dominant share with respect to their intensive implementation, and some of environmentally adapted and less costly indigenous management methods have not gotten attention. Organic fertilizers help to maintain long run soil fertility with less cost on farmlands and the surrounding environment, but require long processes. On the contrary, inorganic fertilizers help to achieve crop productivity within a short period of time but maintain short term soil fertility (usually for a single cropping season). Likewise, insecticides and pesticides have tremendous impacts on the environment and health of animals, plants and human beings. Age, sex, number of labor forces, number of livestock, number of farm plots, contact with DAs and farmers’ participation on community forums and panel discussions with regard to farmland management are the main determinants of the adoption and implementation of improved farmland management practices. Government policies, sources of fuel energy, problem of properly integrating indigenous and introduced management practices, absence of other alternative engagements, animal feeding systems, grazing and plowing systems and farmers’ reluctance for carrying responsibility are the other constraining factorsSenGeography and Environmental StudiesThesis