FCT farmers want govt. assistance to boost tomato farming


 Mr Barnabas Musa, a farmer in Abaji area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has urged the Federal Government to provide financial support to tomato farmers, to boost production.
Musa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that this would also help address the current scarcity of the produce.
He said that such assistance would encourage people, especially women and youths, to engage in tomato farming.
Musa attributed the present scarcity of tomatoes and the price spikes to low cultivation and pest infestation, stressing the need to boost production.
He explained that the demand for the crop was very high, while supply remained low, thereby causing scarcity and price spikes.
According to him, most farmers in recent times prefer to cultivate maize, millet, potatoes, yams and other crops during the rainy season, instead of perishable crops such as like tomatoes.
``One major cause of tomato scarcity during the rainy season is the high level of water beneath the earth which adversely affects the production of the crop.
``But the major cause of this year’s unprecedented scarcity is because only few farmers are involved in tomato cultivation during the wet season,’’ Musa said.
In a separate interview, Mr Bulus Gado, a farmer in Kuje, FCT, urged the government to assist dry season farmers with irrigation and other facilities, to boost production.
Gado said with adequate funding, the present scarcity of the commodity would soon be a thing of the past as many farmers were willing to farm tomatoes this wet season.
Mr Jabilo Zaka, a farmer in Kwali FCT, told NAN that the government could assist farmers with improved seedlings, which would boost tomato yields in the country.
``Apart from controlled weather, improved seeds would also boost tomato yield, if the Ministry of Agriculture could provide such seeds to farmers for planting this season.
NAN reports that the price of tomatoes has increased by over 100 per cent as a big basket of the commodity which was sold at N8,000 some months ago, is now sold at N18,000 at Abaji Market.
Similarly at Kwali Market, a medium basket of the commodity sold for N5,000 in February, now goes for N9,000. 

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