Africa’s largest economy has been hit by agricultural misfortune in the past few weeks which has seen it citizens lament and moan over a new pest which is ravaging tomatoes.
A state government in the northern Nigeria announced the declaration of a state of emergency after it was reported that moths had destroyed 90 percent of tomato fields in the state.
This outbreak largely affecting supplies of the country’s leading staple food has been described by Nigerian farmers as “Tomato Ebola” after the deadly disease that devastated West Africa in 2014.
Apparently, Tomato prices which hiked during the fuel scarcity crisis is as a result of the moth ‘Tuta Absoluta’.
The Tuta Absoluta is a harmful leaf mining moth which has a strong preference for the tomato plant. It is said that it can breed between 10-12 generations in a year with the female capable of laying between 250-300 eggs within its life time.
The outbreak has triggered inflation in the tomato market as a wholesale basket containing hundreds of tomatoes now sells for 42,000 naira, up to 300 to 1,500 naira before the outbreak.
It is so powerful that it has forced the newly established $200million Dangote Tomato Processing Factory in Kadawa, Kano State, to suspend production for the time being.
What’s the name of the state
Something is fishy here