NEPC moves to tackle strange ginger disease as farmers lose N10bn

The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (ED/CEO) of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Ezra Yakusak, has said that the commission has begun moves to find lasting solutions to the strange fungal disease destroying most ginger farms in Kaduna State.

Yakusak stated this over the weekend during a media facility visit to assess the level of damage on ginger farms in Southern Kaduna.

Daily Trust reports that places visited include farmlands in Kagarko and Jaba LGAs, where ginger farming is done on a large scale.

“About 95 per cent of the entire ginger is wiped out in Kaduna. What that means is that it would affect the country’s non-oil export performance. That is why we are worried. It’s a thing of concern.

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“Nigeria is the fourth ginger-producing country, but Nigeria’s ginger is the best because of its potency, aroma and high oil content. It’s a pandemic and we are putting effort together to tackle it just the way COVID-19 was tackled by all.

“On NEPC’s part, we would intervene in terms of improved seedlings and capacity building,” Yakusak said.

Earlier, the state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Murtala Dabo, said ginger farmers in Kaduna had lost a minimum of N8bn since the infection started in July this year.

“It’s a strange disease. Seven LGAs are affected already. We thought we could salvage something, but over 90 per cent of the farms are gone and melted. Over 2,500 hectares are gone. In monetary terms, between N8bn and N10bn has been lost this year to the fungal disease,” Dabo said.