Health Alert! ‘Tomato Ebola’ Hits Six States In Nigeria

The Federal Government has advised farmers to use their management skills to help curb the spread of Tuta absoluta, popularly known as ‘Tomato Ebola’, which has spread to six states in the country.

According to Punch, the Federal Government on Tuesday revealed the cause of tomato scarcity in the country as it said some pests that spread the plant disease are responsible for the massive destruction of tomato in farmlands in Nigeria. The destructive pests have so far invaded six states in Nigeria. Farmers all over the country have been warned to be careful and to make use of their management skills to help stop the spread of the pests.

Speaking on the issue, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, said during a press briefing in Abuja, that the report that tomato processing factories had mopped-up tomato fruits in Nigeria was unfounded and untrue.

He also revealed that the highly reproductive nature of the tomato pests and lack of management knowledge for containment allowed it to spread which led to the destruction of tomato fruits in Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Plateau and Lagos.

He also stated that the government is already consulting with experts in other to find a way to tackle the pests.

”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,” he said.

However, he stated that the experts had offered some varieties of tomato that grow well in the western part of the country as alternatives.

On the amount spent on importing tomato paste,  Audu said:

”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.”