The Kaduna State government has declared a state of emergency on tomato, following an outbreak of tomato blight that has wiped out about 80% of tomato farms in the state.
The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry, Dr. Manzo Maigari, disclosed this at a news conference to mark the one year anniversary of the Nasir El-Rufai administration in the state.
He said that the disease outbreak is largely responsible for the scarcity of tomatoes in the country.
While explaining that the tomato disease is caused by an insect called ‘leaf miner’, which eats up the tomato leaves and the soft parts, the Commissioner disclosed that a team of officials from the ministry have been dispatched to Kenya to seek intervention.
He also disclosed that over 200 farmers have been affected with loses put at over N1billion.
Our correspondent reports that the infestation has inflated the cost of tomato in the market as a basket of the commodity now goes as high as N42,000.
