Tomato Disease: Kano Farmers Count Losses

As the outcry against
the tomato ravaging disease, Tuta  absoluta, continues to resonate, more famers have lamented  their losses to the menace.
According to a release made available  to The Tide  by Agro-Nigeria on Monday, a team led by its Northwest   Bureau  Chief  Mr. Dave Ampah,  visited  Garin Mallam and Dakosye  in which  are predominantly  tomato farming communities in Kano and  met with a group of farmers who recounted their losses to the scourge within a short period.
A spokesman for Garin Mallam farmers, Mallam Abdullahi who was visibly disturbed owing to the losses that he incurred   said he was  afraid  more losses would occur.
Abdullahi explained that the losses so far  were huge  this year.
He disclosed  that in one of the farms 20 bags of fertiliser  were  applied and about N180, 000 worth of seeds was put in use.
According to him, 11 labourers were employed  to work on the farm but at the end of the day the farmer could hardly get a turnover of N100,000.
The farmer , according  to the report was expected to have a yield of about N2,000,000, yet most of the crops were destroyed by the spreading pest.
He said the pest were strange explaining  that farmers leave the farms intact after close of activities only to discover that all have been destroyed.
He further lamented, the farmers suspected something strange but that  the visit  had opened their eyes to the presence of the killer disease.
He however called on government  intervention along with other stakeholders  to stem the tide of the dreaded  tomato disease.