Using Jatropha ‘wonder plant’ to mitigate soil degradation

Even as government strives to mitigate the impact of desetification, the effort has not made much impact, even in the face of the threat of climate change.
Besides desertification in the North, many areas in the Southern part of the country, especially in the South-East, are ravaged by erosion.
Efforts to check the Agulu Nanka erosion menace in Anambra have not yielded much success.
This is also the case in most erosion prone parts of the country.
The erection of concrete barriers and the channelisation of water courses to check erosion have not helped matters.
It is against this background that experts suggest the adoption of natural measures such as the cultivation of special plants on degraded soils as the most adaptable measure to contain the menace.
One plant that comes to mind, according to experts, is Jatropha, ''the wonder plant''.

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