The tomato crisis in
the country had been receiving attention as experts and farmers proffer solution on how best to produce the crop, and preserve it.
The Fadama III Coordinator in Plateau, Mr Gideon Dandam, who attributed the present scarcity of the food item and its price hike to low cultivation of the crop by farmers, stressed the need to boost its production.
Dandam told newsmen in Jos that the demand for the crop was very high, while supply remained low, thereby causing scarcity and hike in price.
According to him, most farmers in the state prefer to cultivate maize, millet, potatoes, yams and other crops instead of perishable crops like tomatoes during the rainy season.
“One major cause of scarcity of tomato during rainy season is because there is always high level of water beneath the earth which adversely affects the production of the crop.
“But the major cause of this year’s astronomical and unprecedented scarcity is because only few farmers are involved in tomato cultivation during the wet season.
“Most of our farmers prefer to cultivate crops like yams, maize, potatoes and other crops during the rains, thereby causing unavailability of the crop in such period.
“Also, we now have tomato processing plants in Nigeria, and so the product is always mopped up from points of harvest for processing.
Also, the Edo State Chairman of AFAN, Mr Emmanuel Odigie  told The Tide in Benin that the weather in the area was suitable for the cultivation of tomatoes and called on farmers to urgently embark on the cultivation of tomatoes to mitigate the scarcity.