The Nigeria Institute of Soil Science (NISS) says meeting the nation’s food requirements will be an insurmountable challenge without healthy soils and clean water.

Victor Chude, NISS registrar and president-elect of the International Union of Soil Sciences, told journalists on Friday in Abuja that the quality and health of soils largely determined agricultural production and sustainability, as well as environmental quality.

He said both factors positively impacted plant, animal, and human health.

Mr Chude said the rapid development of the urban and industrial environment in the last decades had put significant pressure on natural resources globally, with concerns manifested by resource shortages, price growth and instability, and degradation of ecosystems.

He said it was essential for all and sundry to take proactive measures to safeguard these natural resources for future generations.

The registrar said the future food security would depend on safeguarding soil and water resources.

“The value of life, the health of humans and ecosystems, and the state of the economy are dependent on how natural resources (water, land, energy, minerals, biomass, fossil fuel, among others) are sustained.

“Over 95 per cent of our food originates from soil and water; soils are fundamental to life on earth, and the ability to provide safe and nutritious food is the key contribution they make to humanity and nature as a whole.

“Planting and managing soil and water resources through effective land and water management, blending innovative, technical and institutional solutions to meeting local circumstances and focus on better systems of land and water governance,” he said.

Mr Chude said increasing land water productivity was critical to achieving food security and sustainable production.

According to him, there is a need to enhance food production, and tackle threats from land degradation, increasing water scarcity, and declining water quality.

(NAN)