To commemorate World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, Nigerians have been admonished to desist from acts that are responsible for turning fertile lands into desert.
A lecturer in the department of Soil Science and Land Resources Management, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Professor Olubunmi Shittu gave the advice in Ado Ekiti to commemorate the day.
Professor Shittu identified the acts that were responsible for desertification to include deforestation, overgrazing and inappropriate farming systems.
While attributing drought to shortage of rainfall, occasioned by climate change, the soil scientist stressed the need to plant more trees so as to reduce the negative effects of desertification and drought on the ecosystem.
He emphasized the effects of desertification and drought to include dry vegetation, low water levels of rivers and lakes, which would translate to food shortages, if not properly tackled.
Professor Shittu noted that most of the agriculture machineries were not adapted to the country’s loose soil, hence the need to modify them to suit the soil content of the nation, to reduce erosion.
Since 1994, June 17 had been the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought to draw public attention that 23 per cent of the land globally is no longer productive, while 75 per cent has been transformed from its natural state.
