Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Abubakar Kyari, says that Nigeria lost over N1.3 billion to the outbreak of tomato pests popularly called tomato leaf miner or tomato Ebola in three states of Kano, Katsina and Kaduna in northern Nigeria.
Addressing the ongoing four-day capacity building workshop for financial institutions in Abuja on Wednesday, Mr Kyari said that the outbreak had consequently led to average price increase of a 50kg basket of tomatoes from N5,000 to N10,000 and ultimately N30,000, exacerbating food inflation and straining household budgets.
Kyari said that the outbreak of the tomato pests had underscored the fragility of the country’s horticultural systems as the pest could decimate tomato crops within 48 hours, leading to catastrophic yield losses.
Local media reports quoted the minister as stressing the need for integrated pest management strategies, investment in resilient crop varieties and enhanced support for farmers to safeguard the country’s food supply chains.