Excessive fertilizer application on soil poisonous to human health – Biochemist warns  

A scholar of Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry at the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State, Professor Lateef Taiwo, has cautioned that excessive application of fertilizers and pesticides on soil is poisonous both to the soil and human health.

Prof. Taiwo, delivering Inaugural Lecture Series 365 on Tuesday in Ile-Ife, Osun, on the title: “Anthropogenic Disruption of Microbial Ecosystem in Soil: The Crisis Beneath Our Feet,” admonished big farmers and stakeholders on the poisonous effect of excessive use of fertilizer in food production.

Prof. Taiwo remarked that in the past, the food people consumed were products of minimum tillage, noting that the use of organic fertilizers became the practice since agro-chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides were not available.

According to Taiwo: “With the increase in the use of herbicides in modern agriculture, the problem of the negative effects of these agro-chemicals on soil microbes have generated more attention.

“Applied herbicides have been reported to be harmful to allochthonous organisms, disrupt the soil ecosystem and ultimately affect human health by gaining access into human food chain.

“Their persistence in soil has also been reported to affect soil fertility.

“Pesticide residues can be found in soils a long time after application. This confirms that a shift in our practices is needed urgently.”

Taiwo acknowledged that soil needs to function well, noting that some modern practices, citing the use of pesticides, effectively prevented the soil from functioning well.

He asserted that pesticides do not just attack plant pests but also attack soil beneficial organisms, therefore, weakening the soil’s ability to deliver its full contribution to plant protection.

Prof. Taiwo cautioned: “Everyone needs to take a deeper look at the long-lasting damages that pesticides cause to soils and what policy makers should do about it.

“There is a lot of activity being carried out in the soil and once the activities are disrupted, they will not be able to carry out the responsibility which God has bestowed on them and that would have adverse effect on food production.

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“Especially when the soil that we all depend on is poisoned and the life of the soil which is the micro would be adversely affected.”

He decried that farming has been left to a few, who in minimizing the required labour, adopt the use of chemicals who are harmful to the soil and human health.

Prof. Taiwo declared: “There is, therefore, more intensification of the agricultural practices by the few people who now cultivate the land.

“Intensive agriculture which comprises farming practices such as maximum tillage and the use of agro-chemicals is now the norm.

“All these activities disrupt the soil’s microbial ecosystem, adversely affecting soil fertility and end food production in the country.”