Tomato emergency in Nigerian state

Tomatoes, which are a staple in Nigerian diets and are primarily grown in northern Kaduna state, cost $1.20 per basket three months ago. They now are over $40 per basket. An exotic and hard-to-kill pest, Tuta Absoluta or the Tomato Leaf Miner, hasravaged the crop.

That is really too big strike on the local farmers who plant tomato.

We do the agriculture machine of maize mill and wheat milling machine, so we totally understand how big influence this plague of insects take. Always heard from our client that they have to stop the investment of the maize milling business because of the lack of maize.

It is said some officials of the ministry had been sent to Kenya to liaise with experts and return with the best way of arresting the situation.

Hope this can be solved soon and reduce the loss of the farmers.