Price Of Tomato Hits N811 Per KG As ‘Ebola’ Disease Causes Scarcity

Tomato has become a rich man’s commodity in Nigeria especially in the South-South region where scarcity has shot prices to average of N811 per kilogram in March.

Farmers recently raised the alarm over Tomato Ebola which is ravaging tomato farms in Kano, Katsina, Kaduna and Gombe States.

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Tuta Absoluta – nicknamed tomato ebola ravages tomato in 48 hours.

The reports from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the average price of tomato rose 13.81 per cent year on year from N409.9 in March 2022 to N466.6 in March 2023.

But the Southern region that depends on supply from the North are most hit by the scarcity of tomato, according to the NBS.

Tomatoes sold for as high as N811.13 per KG in South-South, the highest in March, while South-East saw price rise to N640.6 per KG.

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In the South West, tomato sold for N556.4 for a KG, while the price was N345 and N287.8 in the North-East and North-Central respectively.

The cheapest was in the North-East where a KG sold for N237.52.

Director, Horticulture, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Deola Lordbanjoce, said Tuta Absoluta may have cost farmers over N1.3bn.

Lordbanjoce said in a recent function, “This current crisis with Tuta Absoluta started from Galama Local Government in Kano. When it was reported we started our investigation and we found out that about 300 hectares in that Local Government alone were affected by this infestation. And from our end we need to look into the economics of what we are talking about.

“Then we got to know economically that the farmers in that local government arising from the infestation of Tuta Absoluta may have lost about N1.3 billion.

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“We are working in collaboration with the National Tomato Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria every time and investigating what is happening in other states.

“And we have our records already and we are working on two things; the Ministry is convening a stakeholders’ meeting, which may be merged with what NABG is planning.”

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