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‘Tuta Absoluta’ Disease Causing Nigeria’s Tomato Scarcity

The Nigerian government is making efforts to contain the spread of “Tuta Absoluta” the disease that experts identified to have affected tomato farms leading to … Continue reading ‘Tuta Absoluta’ Disease Causing Nigeria’s Tomato Scarcity


Tomato-scarcity-in-NigeriaThe Nigerian government is making efforts to contain the spread of “Tuta Absoluta” the disease that experts identified to have affected tomato farms leading to scarcity of the product in the nation, authorities have said.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, assured Nigerians that the government was working with a team of experts from the United Kingdom who will deliver specialised insecticides for the control of the disease.

According to him, the disease has affected six tomato producing states, including Plateau, Jigawa, Kano and Katsina.Tomato disease, Kaduna, tomato blight, tomato farms

He said Tuta Absoluta had high resistant to the commonly used insecticides and had the capacity of spreading to other crops like pepper and Irish potatoes.

For over a month now the price of tomatoes has gone up due to scarcity of the product, with less than seven seeds selling for 500 Naira, the highest price of the commodity in history.

Many families are depending largely on tinned tomatoes which people fear the price may begin to rise soon.