Why Nigeria Risks Losing Position As World’s Second-Largest Ginger Producer — Agric Minister

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has warned that Nigeria may lose its position as the world’s second-largest ginger producer following a 70 percent loss of the crop.

This comes as ginger farmers have incurred financial losses amounting to N12bn due to an outbreak of ginger blight, also known as ginger tuber rot disease, which primarily affects underground tubers in Kaduna, Nasarawa and Plateau States, as well as the FCT.

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Abdullahi, disclosed this during the inauguration of the National Ginger Blight Epidemic Control Taskforce in Abuja on Monday.

“Our preliminary estimates suggested that affected farmers in southern Kaduna lost over N12bn.

“Furthermore, considering that over 85 percent of Nigeria’s ginger cultivation occurs in this region, we can safely assume a substantial loss of cultivated land, potentially exceeding 70 per cent of total land,” he stated.

Addressing government intervention for affected farmers, the minister said the National Agricultural Development Fund would launch a N1.6 billion recovery package for ginger-producing areas.

“We can build a more sustainable future for our agricultural sector,” Abdullahi noted, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding agricultural resources.

The chairman of the task force committee, Abubakar Abdullahi, acknowledged the negative impact of the ginger blight on the subsector’s gross domestic product earnings.

However, he assured that the team is committed to controlling the outbreak. “It is of necessity and great urgency that various subcommittees are put in place to forestall these negative effects,” he said.