The highly reproductive nature of the tomato pest ‘Ebola’ coupled with the favourable environment and lack of management knowledge for containment of the disease resulted in its spread like a wild fire without any challenge. This development had led to the destruction of tomato fruits in six states in Nigeria.
The “Tomato Ebola” disease is caused by a moth called “Tuta absoluta” which has destroyed many tomato fields causing scarcity and high price of the vegetable. Tomatoes, one of its main ingredients and a staple of Nigerian cuisine, are going for $2 each at local markets, with wholesale baskets costing as much as N42,000, or $212, Kaduna state agriculture commissioner Manzo Daniel told AFP.
According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, the Federal Government had started consulting with states and experts in other to fashion out measures to tackle the pest, reports Naija News
“The pest can also attack even pepper and Irish potato. So we are confronting something quite serious. But the good thing is that we are tackling it right now as experts will commence work immediately. We are bringing the commissioners and governors of states to jointly attack this pest, which, if not dealt with, will create serious problems for food security in our country.” Said Mr. Igbeh
“We have two processing plants for tomato paste in Nigeria, Erisco and Dangote, and their capacities are huge. We welcome their arrival because our annual import bill of tomato paste is about $400m and it is a good sign that we can now produce here and make money for our farmers.” Said Mr. Igbeh
Benson Idahosa University in Edo State Nigeria on Wednesday said that it has concluded plans to produce 800,000 tonnes of tomatoes to cushion the effects the shortage of the fruit in the country reports The Punch Nigeria
