World Soil Day: Soil Science Dept marks Day with lecture and field study at UNIBEN
The Department of Soil Science and Land Management of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Edo State, on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, joined the world to mark the World Soil Day, universally markex to spread awareness about the importance of the soil. The theme for this year was, "Soil and Water as Source of Life"
Marked annually on December 5 through a resolution of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), in 2002, to help focus the world's attention on the primacy of a healthy soil as well as championing sustainable management of soil resources, it has helped to champion the need to study and pay close attention to the soil for agricultural sustainability.
The lecture series held at the lecture theatre of the faculty were engaging. There were discussions, persuasive presentations, and an interactive session among participants which helped people to focus on the vital role of soil and water at fostering life, agriculture, and environmental health.
The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) chairperson of the event, Dr. (Mrs.) Valerie Uyi-Edosa said her committee was able to bring practitioners, policy makers and the academia together at this auspicious event in the overall interest of the human race. She added that conclusions reached would enlighten students and others on some of the hurtful practices that destroy and the ecosystem
In his keynote address, Prof Joseph Ogeh enumerated the linkage between the health of the soil and the health of the planet
He posited further that the soil, as a living and breathing entity, filled up with insects, plants and animals which all have key roles, help to make the planet sustainable for living.
He stated that Nigeria can achieve food security by tapping into her unique biodiversity, stressing that ninety-five percent of the food we consume originates from the soil and the water bodies surrounding it.
The Head of Department (HOD), Dr. (Mrs.) Anthonia Osayanmo Bakare revealed that there was a huge prospect in agriculture, basing her optimism on the recent increase in the number of students applying to study soil science in the department.
According to her, the present intake of 82 first-year students to study soil science alone gives a glimmer of hope as more parents are coming to the painful but inevitable realization of the role of agriculture in economic sustainability and employment generation.
She observed that soil and water are vital to life, adding that with the events lined up to mark the day it was a pointer to the interdependency between man and the soil
She said, "It is a call on society not to abandon agriculture but to sustain it. If we must sustain life, we also need to grow crops, wet the soil and look forward to a bumper harvest".
Frowning at the unhelpful hiatus between the policymakers and the agricultural experts, a situation she explained they tried to bridge by making sure officials of the government were well-represented at the event, Dr. Bakare called for concerted efforts as well as cross-breeding in the attempt at boosting agricultural production in the country.
Among those who added their voices to the talking points during the event were Dr. Aigboghosa Samson Umweni, a pedologist; Mr. ThankGod Uchechukwu Ogegu, President of the Soil Science and Land Management Students Association, University of Benin chapter, who spoke on the importance of the "one health initiative" wherein agriculture is given a premium position given its vital role in human growth and sustainability; and, Prof Ikponmosa Abraham Ogboghodo, a microbiologist who delivered a lecture on the importance of the soil to humanity.
The guest speaker, Mr. Ugochukwu Ebubedike, delivered a compelling lecture on "Soil and Water: A Source of Life, Perspectives from the Agriculture Industry"
In particular, he narrated some of the peculiar struggles an average agricultural investor is made to wade through before making good profit.
Among the challenges Ebubedike emphasized in his presentation were the location of the investment, limited knowledge on the need to seek help from soil pedagogy experts for land development, returns on investment, evaluate the ease or rigidity of the loan repayment process, as well as waste/water management which has now been discovered to play important roles that determine the success or failure of an agricultural project.
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