1.1 Introduction
Soil science represents a vital and productive, but also somewhat inward-looking field of science. Considering the increased emphasis on the relevance of science for society, the profession would be well advised to engage itself more actively with adjacent fields studying issues that receive, in contrast to soils, attention in strategic international reports on sustainable development, such as, e.g., agronomy, hydrology, climatology, and ecology. However, this interdisciplinary approach would be inadequate to address SDG’s and a focus of soil science on ecosystem services would provide the necessary broader focus to be achieved by linking soil functions with ecosystem services. Rather than consider adjacent fields of study as independent entities, a narrative that puts all adjacent scientific fields in a logical sequence is suggested as a possible future course.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Soil scientists need to understand that what economists refer to when they talk about “economic theory” really does not have much in common with theories we are used to in science, and economists in reverse have to grasp how scientists approach things and why they may be unwilling to follow some paths. Reaching such a mutual understanding takes time, during which actual research breakthroughs may be few and far between. Perhaps because this first learning step is seldom taken seriously enough, experience shows that when the actual research takes place, slippages back to mono-disciplinary or multi-disciplinary modus operandi are frequent (Baveye et al., 2014).
Even though many funding agencies, in the US, in Europe, or elsewhere, claim to be very supportive of interdisciplinary research, virtually none has structures in place that are truly adapted to this type of activity. Interdisciplinary projects often need to involve sizeable groups of investigators working in very close proximity, which means that the budget allocations have to be substantially larger than they are at the moment. Soil scientists should try consistently to educate funding bodies and policy makers of the need for funding structures to be better adapted to the research carried out on soils. Certainly, in other areas, some of our colleagues have been successful in convincing governments to invest huge financial resources into the construction of costly particle accelerators or into the launching of satellites to identify exoplanets many light years away from earth (Baveye et al., 2011). There is no real reason why we could not be successful as well.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Prospect and Challenges Facing the Application of Soil Science Knowledge.
1.3 Statement of Problems
History suggests that soil science has tended to leap forward most significantly when a momentous event or significant societal pressure encouraged researchers to focus their attention on a single challenge, or at most on a few of them. For example, in the middle of the eighteenth century, following a period of pronounced and worrisome decline of crop yields in Europe, the processes that controlled soil fertility emerged as a pressing area of research. A number of science academies in several European countries devoted considerable attention to the topic (e.g., Baveye, 2013), which eventually paved the way for the mid-nineteenth century research on mineral fertilizers, and resulted in sizeable increases in agricultural productivity (e.g., Baveye et al., 2011; Sylvester and Rupley, 2012).
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the Prospect and Challenges Facing the Application of Soil Science Knowledge in Nigeria. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To assess the challenges in applying Soil Science Knowledge in Nigeria
- To find out the prospect of the challenges involved in applying Soil Science Knowledge in Nigeria
1.5 Significance of Study
This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.6 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the Prospect and Challenges Facing the Application of Soil Science Knowledge in Nigeria.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
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