Photo: Starfish Bioscience.

A Soil Scientist at the University of Juba’s College of Natural Resource and Environmental Studies has called for the establishment of Agriculture Laboratory in the country to ease soil analysis.

Dr Jane Alexandra Najeb – while addressing the commemoration of World Soil Day on Thursday – said her department has faced many challenges due to the lab absence, adding that soil samples gathered by her students are normally send to neighboring countries for analysis.

Dr. Najeb regretted that the testing of samples in Uganda often provides no room for correction in cases of miscalculation.

“How can a country run an agriculture without having a lab? We don’t have a single lab in our country here,” she said.

“Because all the soil from my students, I’m sending them to East Africa, specific to Makerere, for analyzing the soil without anything. The different teams which are here, for me, the most important thing for us to work hard to get is the lab.

She said if the proposed agricultural laboratory is established, it will help the country and universities in producing organic fertilizers.

Mrs. Jane also stressed that the proposed laboratory might ease soil mapping and analysis.

“We need to have our lab, a national lab. We need to have one in South Sudan. Because with this lab, even these fertilizers, we can produce our organic fertilizers.”

“Not necessarily these inorganic fertilizers. We can produce our organic fertilizers in our labs. So what we need to do is the lab, we fight for lab, and then we need the idea of an irrigation system in the country.”

The expert further called for the establishment of irrigation system in the country to boost productivity.

This year’s World Soil Day commemoration is under the theme; “Caring for soils: measure, monitor, manage”.

It was organized but the Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with the University of Juba and with support from International Fertilizers Development Center.