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Nigeria: 'Use Cactus Opuntia to Combat Desertification in the North'
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Daily Trust (Abuja)
18 July 2008
Posted to the web 18 July 2008
Sikiru M. Jimoh
Abuja
An academician, Professor IK. Aduba at the weekend in Abuja called on the federal government to consider using the plant called Cactus Opuntia (popularly named prickly pear) to combat desertification in the FCT and other northern states in the federation.
He said the best economic option left for this administration is for them to combat desertification in the north with viable and effective technologies already tested in some countries of the world such as Mexico, Israel, USA, Brazil, North Africa, South Africa, etc.
"From research reports, we are convinced that the greener our environment, the better, whether a tree or shrub, so long as the green-cover can be sustained irrespective of the intense heat and strong winds of the desert," he reasoned.
He said Cactus Opuntia plant has been used in most countries of the desert world to combat desertification with two cultivars (Redonda and Muida) as well as to alleviate poverty and hunger.
"Since 20,000 years ago, Cactus Opuntia has been important as food sources, as well as for drink and medicine in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, USA, etc and since 1962, Tunisia has used this plant to combat desertification, alleviate poverty and better the livelihood of their people," he disclosed.
He said Tunisia had cultivated over 700,000 ha of cv Palma Redonda (Cactus Opuntia) which have been generating large foreign exchange through the sales of pads, fruits and other benefits.
"In Israel, Cactus species were collected from California and planted in Negev desert in 1993 while in 1996, Israel started producing Kuobo Fruits from Cereus peruvianus (Cactus Apple) with about 30 tons, and the production doubled in 1997 for export to Europe and Asia," he added.
The professor said the man who brought the technology to Israel, Prof Yosef Mizrahi, recently reported in the BBC World Television that Israeli farmers were running into severe problems of water shortages, hence the change to Cacti which need far less water than fruit-trees.
He explained that all the countries mentioned never relied on the use of gigantic irrigation projects as is done in Nigeria because the water table is being reduced daily hence making water available for irrigation very difficult and the major cause of desertification.
"This problem is now jeopardizing about one-third of the world's irrigated land of which Nigeria is among.
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According to the professor, areas affected in the country by the problem include Kano, Talata, Mafara as well as Sokoto.
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