Tomato leaf miner also known as Tuta absoluta is currently giving tomato farmers in some parts of Northern Nigeria sleepless nights, as it has threatened to push the cost of tomatoes up by 450 per cent, and led to a loss of 70 per cent in output.
According to VON, the State Chairman of the Tomato Out Growers Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Sani Yadakwari, made this known in an interview that, “The farmers cannot get even 10 per cent of what they have invested in tomato cultivation this season,” he said. According to TOGAN, “In the current season, the infestation had led to losses of millions of dollars, causing shortages. It had not only eaten into the income of farmers but also hoteliers.”
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He said, for stakeholders in the hospitality industry, the infestation posed a high risk to the cost of food production in restaurants. He said for stakeholders in the hospitality industry, the infestation posed a high risk to the cost of food production in restaurants.
