PRE-DEGREE/CERTIFICATE REGISTRATION/SCHOOL FEES
144th Inaugural Akonye Advocates Controlled Environment Agriculture In Nigeria By Humphrey Ogu
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- Published: 12 April 2018
The physiology of the root and how it harnesses the manifestation of the entire plants in the environment formed the main thrust of the 144th Inaugural Lecture delivered by Professor Love Akonye at Ebitimi Banigo Auditorium on Thursday, November 30, 2017.
Delivering the Lecture entitled: “The Root and the Media: The Use of Physiological Processes as Indicators of Environmental Change”, Professor Akonye of the Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology in the Faculty of Science, stated that “For the plant to express itself, it must be rooted in a medium, which can take different forms–soil, water and air.
“So, the vegetation in our environment, the crops in our farms, the hydroponic/aeroponic gardens in our greenhouses, the plantlets in the test tubes in our tissue culture laboratories, are all rooted in one form of medium or the other,” the Inaugural Lecturer explained.
Professor Akonye said that the management of environmental controls that impinge on the plant could be utilised and maximised to enhance productivity, while minimising unfavourable factors. She further noted that “the root initially experiences and signals a change in the soil medium—water, salinity and soil pollution.”
Akonye, who was a one-time Dean of the Faculty of the Agriculture, stressed the need for government at all levels to muster the political will to design effective public policies that would support Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), which would in turn positively improve the indices of Nigeria's economic wellbeing. She further pointed out that supporting CEA “will act as a stimulus to job creation, boost food production, conserve the environment and improve the economy, amongst other advantages.”
Commenting on the Lecture, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ndowa Lale, praised the Inaugural Lecturer for giving a good account of herself. He stressed the importance of using research to solve societal problems, rather than for solely seeking promotion in the academy.
