There has been a resurgence of a deadly pest, known as Turta Absoluta, that has attacked tomato in Nigeria, leading to a loss of over N720million to Nigeria farmers.
The National Tomato Growers Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria revealed that losses caused by the pest are huge as over three hundred hectares of land are affected in 2023 alone, with each hectare bearing a cost of N2. 4million.
According to the farmers, states such as Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa and plateau are mostly affected.
President of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group, NABG, Chief Emmanuel Ijewere, at a brainstorming session held Tuesday in Abuja, to find a solution to the menace, said that to avoid a recurrence of the devastation caused by the tomato disease to small holder farmers, that it was imperative for key stakeholders to collaborate and harness resources needed to combat the problem.
Mallam Salisu Idris, the program director of the Dutch funded HortiNigeria, currently collaborating with NABG and other stakeholders to address the threat posed by the disease, noted that in the past one of the reasons pests ravaged farms was as a result of lack of awareness. He said that “this time we want to ensure proper sensitization to help farmers know what they are dealing with and how to address it.”
“We will work with farmers and agro-input dealers, showing techniques and technology needed to combat this small but disastrous pest,” Salisu concluded.