Nigeria faces tomato scarcity as Tuta Absoluta disease causes N1.5b loss for farmers – Farmers in Nigeria are facing significant losses to their tomato crops due to a disease known as ‘Tuta Absoluta’. Over 500 farmers in states such as Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, and Gombe have lost a 300-hectare farm valued at N1.5 billion to the disease.
The Tuta Absoluta is an insect that builds its home under tomato leaves and is responsible for devastating entire farms within three days. This outbreak is likely to cause a tomato scarcity in the country. Climate change is believed to have contributed to the spread of pests around the field, which has made the situation worse.
Stakeholders in the agricultural industry, including the Horti Nigeria and the Netherlands, have declared total ‘war’ on the invading insects. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is working with the National Tomato Growers, Processors, and Marketers Association of Nigeria to investigate the situation in other states.
The Ministry is convening a stakeholders’ meeting to address the issue. The Director of Horticulture, Dr. Deola Lordbanjoce, has said that with the tomato disease, the country’s deficit will rise from 1.3 million metric tons to three million metric tons.
The Executive Director of the Nigerian Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Dr. Mohammad Atanda, has suggested that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development incorporate NIHORT’s sustainable Tuta Integrated Management Package for tomato production in the national tomato policy.
He also recommends that farmers adopt the planting of NIHORT’s three recently released tomato seeds bred for high yield, tolerance to fusarium, good shelf life, and nutritional qualities to help stem the tide of the outbreak.
The Secretary-General of the National Tomato Growers, Processors, and Marketers Association of Nigeria, Sani Danladi, has expressed concern about the impact of Tuta Absoluta on farmers in Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kaduna, and Gombe states.
He notes that the disease destroys all investment in the farm and that farmers stand to lose over N1.7 million per hectare. The outbreak of Tuta Absoluta has been described as devastating as it destroys everything in the farm within three days, rendering the crops inedible.