Abuja – Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed says degraded insurgent group, Boko Haram, is responsible for the ongoing scarcity of tomato in the country.
Speaking on Channels Television, the Minister said farmers have been forced to quit the North East due to the level of insecurity in the region.
According to Mohammed,“People talk about the price of tomato but they forget one thing; they forget that the price of tomato today is a direct result of the fact that we have lost two years harvest to Boko Haram insurgency.
According to Mohammed,“People talk about the price of tomato but they forget one thing; they forget that the price of tomato today is a direct result of the fact that we have lost two years harvest to Boko Haram insurgency.
“Most of the people you see riding Okada (motorcycles) in Lagos are people who would have been in the farm to produce consumable items.”
Attributing the scarcity of tomatoes to insurgency, the Minister said, “Do you farm where there is war? We have lost two seasons of harvest in addition we have had very poor rainfall last year and this year. These are the combined responsible for the scarcity of tomato. Go and ask economists and agriculturists, they will tell you.”
News24 had reported that the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai declared a state of emergency in tomato production in the state, saying all hands must be on deck to combat various pests and diseases ravaging tomato.
The governor revealed that 80 per cent of the tomato produced in the state had been ravaged by pests and diseases.
El-Rufai said tomato had been destroyed in three local government areas of the state with a loss of N1bn monthly.
– News 24
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