The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) Prof. Kolawole Salako has called for an upgrade of soil data base in Nigeria to improve agricultural production.

Prof. Salako made this call while featuring on FUNAAB Radio programme in commemoration of this year World Soil Day with the theme “Halt Soil Salinization, Boost Soil Productivity”.

Prof. Salako, a Fellow of Soil Science Society of Nigeria (FSSSN) said the focus should be on how to manage the soil in Nigeria, revealing that technology is now available to ensure that the problems associated with soil is overcome.

According to him, “The issue of soil salinization is a major problem in substantial part of the world , it is a condition where you have salt affected soil and where you cannot really have productivity of the soil”.

The Vice-Chancellor therefore stressed the need for the nation to position soil in such a way that will be beneficial to mankind ,adding that they should ensure that they apply the right management to conserve and preserve the soil.

                He noted that Nigeria needs more land for agriculture because there is a lot of competition on the land, especially from the construction industry.

                “So the issue of productivity comes in now because the land available for cultivation is shrinking. Agriculture will usually lose out when it comes to land development; everybody wants to build sky scrapers, they think that the money that will come out is far more advantageous than having food so the option that we have is to also ensure that the little land we have we make it productive, the little land that we have in agriculture, we manage it so well to avoid soil degradation, that’s the essence of focusing on soil,” he added.

                The University Don charged Nigerians to always see soil as a life support and do everything within their means to conserve the soil and prevent soil degradation.