Soil Productivity Index and Soil Constraints Across Ten Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Benue State, Nigeria.

This study characterized soil productivity across ten Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Benue State, Nigeria, using 882 soil samples representing coordinate-defined soil profiles at three depth intervals (0–30, 30–60 and 60–90 cm). The cumulative productivity index (PI) values were summarized by profile and LGA. The cumulative PI had a mean of 0.138 and a median of 0.105; 105 of 314 profiles had PI = 0.00. Okpokwu had the highest median entered PI (0.290), followed by Kwande (0.210) and Makurdi (0.180), whereas Ushongu had the lowest (0.000) and 86.7% zero-PI profiles. CEC was the dominant constraint: 99.0%, had CEC sufficiency value, below 0.50 and 48.3% were scored zero. Organic matter was the second major constraint, with 46.5% samples below 0.50. The results support LGA- and ward-targeted soil management, with priority for CEC and organic-matter improvement in Usongu, Apa, Gboko and Konshisha, while Okpokwu and Kwande should be prioritized for productivity maintenance as high-performing sites.