Food Security in Nigeria: NOUN Don Explains How Plant-Parasitic Worms Threat
A professor of Nematology from the National Open University of Nigeria in (NOUN), Monioluwa Omolara Olaniyi, has unraveled the world beneath the soil surface where “little known, yet devastating” to plant-parasitic nematodes usually attack roots, weaken crops, and open gateways to diseases.
Olaniyi, who works in the Department of Biological Sciences, stated this on Thursday while presenting the NOUN’s 36th inaugural lecture titled, “Managing Plant Worm Adversaries: Safeguarding the Environment, Sustaining Our Daily Bread,” at the headquarters of the university in Abuja.
She explained how these plant nematodes were adversaries and how they commonly stunt growth, reduce yields, and erode farmers’ incomes, particularly in staple crops that anchor Nigerian diets and livelihoods.
The former Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Technology, Innovation and Research (TIR) at NOUN explained that from vegetables and cereals to tubers and legumes, nematode damage “can be silent and chronic, often misdiagnosed as nutrient deficiency or drought stress.”
