Tuta Absoluta Terrorizes Northern Tomatoes

• Tuta Absoluta takes over 300 hectares of tomato farmland in Kano State.

• This has created a loss worth N1.3 billion.

• Other states in the North have been affected with the possibility of it spreading nation wide.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that a deadly disease outbreak known as Tuta absoluta has ravaged over 300 hectares of tomato farmland in Kano State, leading to a loss of N1.3 billion.

Other states affected by the disease include Katsina, Kaduna, and Gombe, with the possibility of further spread to other states.

 

Director at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Dr. Deola Lordbanjou, made this known in a press statement issued to newsmen. He said the Federal Government is seeking funding to tackle the disease outbreak and is in contact with the Federal Ministry of Finance to leverage the Tomato Levy Fund to respond to the crisis.

Lordbanjou also criticized local tomato processors in the country for reneging on the backward integration initiative of the federal government. He explained that the processors were expected to uptake 50 percent of locally grown tomatoes as their raw input, but most of them still imported 100 percent of raw tomatoes into the country.

The devastating impact of the Tuta absoluta disease outbreak on the tomato industry in Kano State is a cause for concern as the state is one of the largest producers of tomatoes in Nigeria. The disease, also known as the tomato leaf miner, is a destructive pest that attacks tomatoes and causes significant yield losses.

Farmers in the affected states have called on the government to provide urgent intervention and support to curb the spread of the disease and save their farms from total destruction.

The use of appropriate pesticides and good agricultural practices are recommended to prevent further spread of the disease.

The tomato industry is crucial to Nigeria’s economy as it provides a source of income and employment to millions of people, from small-scale farmers to large-scale processors.

 

It is hoped that the Federal Government’s efforts to address the disease outbreak will be successful, and the tomato industry in Nigeria will recover from this setback.