Some traders in Abuja have attributed the scarcity of fresh tomatoes to disease and acidic rain and appealed to the three tiers of government to addre
Some traders in Abuja have attributed the scarcity of fresh tomatoes to disease and acidic rain and appealed to the three tiers of government to address the problem. A seller in one of the markets in FCT, Mr Yinusa Isa, said that between April and May, most tomato farmers from Kano and Zaria complained of the tuta absoluta pest attacks.
Isa said that the same scarcity of fresh tomatoes occurred within the same period in 2016, and appealed to government to intervene to save the situation. He said that between February and March, a big basket of tomatoes which cost N3,000 to N3,500 now cost N15,000 to N20,000.
“One waste bin sized basket measure was sold for N500 but it is currently being sold at N2,000,” he said.
Another trader, Garba Ibrahim, said that the reason why tomato farms were dying in the north was because of the acidity in rain water.
“Normally, the tomato plants are watered with water, but as soon as the rains come, the plants begin to die because of too much acid in the rain water. The tomatoes I have now for sale are from Niger Republic, although we have tomatoes available in Jos, but that is one of the places we currently have good tomatoes in Nigeria,” he said.
Scarcity of fresh tomatoes occurred for the first time in Nigeria in 2016 which was attributed to a disease called tuta absoluta pest attacks but Federal Government proffered a solution to it. Tuta absoluta ant actually originated from South America in 1912 and is spreading to other parts of the world like Europe and Africa and came to Nigeria in 2016 through Niger Republic.
NAN
