After several attempts to end the perennial tomato scarcity, especially during the wet season in Kano State and other northern states, farms are now under renewed attacks.
Last tomato season in Kano was unpleasant to farmers due to tutaabsoluta pest attack that ravaged hundreds of hectares of tomato farms.
Farmers have made efforts to recover from the pest attack by going into wet season production.
It was gathered that one of the measures taken by these tomato farmers is sourcing an improved variety tomato seeds that can do well during the rainy season, but unfortunately, after much is done and farmers were so excited that they had found a solution to the lingering problem, another problem seems to erupt as the tomatoes grown began to show signs of infection.
Most of the tomato farmers spoken to in Kano State decried what they termed as incessant pest attacks on their farms, which, according to them, tempered with their yield, leading to loss of produce.
The farmers narrated that they were battling with ways of getting lasting solutions to the problem, which has become almost a perennial issue despite several efforts to address it.
Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday in his tomato farm, Rabiu Zubairu Umar of Bunkure Local Government Area of the state, blamed the state government for its failure to diligently find a lasting solution to the problems that are gradually making tomato production unattractive to many farmers.
He explained that though tomato farmers had personally taken the burden upon themselves, the trend is gradually getting out of hand, adding that had it not been for the incessant pest attacks, thousands of tomato farmers in the state would have been smiling to the bank by now.
“Tomato is among the leading lucrative farm produce, but presently, people are afraid of it, so they don’t invest hugely in it. The major problem is pest attack like tutaabsoluta, which we call ebola. The moment our tomato is growing, it will come and take away everything. I am a victim of this. Just a few months ago it caused me to lose about N1 million,” Umar said.
Another tomato farmer, Malam Usman Dauda Dorawa, told our reporters that despite losing a huge sum of money during the last pest attack, he didn’t relent, so he had invested in tomato. But just as he is getting ready to begin harvesting, he noticed the strange blister-like spot in the tomatoes.
“I noticed that this blister-like spot is in almost every tomato farm. However, we won’t fold our arms. And as you can see, we are all out to save our plantations. We have consulted experts on the issue and are following their advice. What we are asking for is the authority’s concern to assist us to fight this problem. Pest attack has been a major setback in tomato production, and we feel that it is high time the government assisted us to wipe it out completely,” he said.
Similarly, Bello Shitu, another tomato farmer, said they were in a dilemma because the damage they noticed was gradually spreading. He also expressed fear that what they were afraid of may happen in the end. According to him, if care is not taken, there is going to be an absolute tomato scarcity soon in Kano State.
“We are now battling with an attack we can’t explain. Our plantations are affected by pests and we don’t know what to do. If you look at some of the yields, you would see the rust. Some are already ripe and rotten as they are being affected. We are currently battling with what we don’t know, we are indeed in a dilemma,” he said.
Another farmer, Abdulmumini Ahmad, said tomato farming had done a lot for him, and without the challenges they are currently facing, they would have gone far in the sector.
He said that apart from the pest attacks on their tomato farms, they were also bedeviled with lack of good seeds and storage facilities, as well as the companies to buy their products directly.
“This has been another challenge for us. We lack a good seed that will withstand these pest attacks. A slight attack will lead to loss of millions. We also don’t have storage facilities. We are losing millions from that and there are no capable companies to buy our produce.
“These are our major challenges in tomato farming. We are not after the cost of input. That is a different case. Let these problems be dealt with by the government,” he said.
However, when contacted on the issue, the Kano State chairman of Tomato Out Growers Association of Nigeria (TOGAN), Alhaji Sani Danladi Yadakwari, said the farmers didn’t report the attack to the association. He, therefore, said there was a strong need for tomato farmers to engage the services of an effective agronomist on issues related to suspected attack.
He further said that from what he heard, it was a fungal attack that could easily be addressed with the use of a proper treatment powder.
An agronomist, Mr Zentar Abuki, also said it was a fungal infection, which affects the fruit while ripening. The symptoms first become noticeable as small, circular indented areas, which later develop darkened centres that look like rust.
He explained that such situation could be addressed by the use or purchase of a disease-free seed, as the fungus that causes this to tomato may be within the seed. According to him, to be on a safer side, tomato seeds may be treated by soaking them in hot water (122 ºF) for 25 minutes to destroy the fungus before planting. He further revealed that some varieties of tomatoes had resistance to attacks of such nature.
He stressed that the best way to address this type of issue was engaging the services of effective agronomists.
