Varsity Don calls for ban of tomato paste

A Professor of Horticulture and Landscape Management at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Goke Bodunde has called on government to enforce the ban clauses on various agricultural products particularly tomato paste.

Professor Goke who delivered a lecture titled ‘Unveiling the beauty of an unforbidden fruit’ at the 59th inaugural lecture of the University, said that some imported pastes contain up to 50 per cent starch before dilution in Nigeria where an additional 15 per cent starch is often added.

He condemned the importation of substandard tomato paste and the consumption of rotten tomato fruits often called esha in tomato markets of South Western Nigeria, which he attributed to poor yield of tomato.

According to him, although Tomato is considered vital and almost inevitable in human nutrition which qualifies it as one un-forbidden fruit, however, Nigeria has the poorest yield performance in the world with about 4-5 tonnes per hectare, compared to Egypt that records a yield of 39.7t/ha and South Africa with 78.7t/ha.

While the Professor ascribed the low productivity in Nigeria to environmental and managerial factors, he noted that these factors conspire to make Nigeria a producer of just two per cent of the total world output of tomato fruits in spite of huge total land area cultivated.

“On account of low production and the dietary compulsion of tomato in culinary use, a number of abuses detrimental to human health in an attempt to make the product available have been observed. This is the story of some of the tomato paste and puree imported into Nigeria, 91.1% of which according to NAFDAC (2015), failed to meet the required standard.”