Kaduna revives 17 grazing reserves
By AbdulRaheem Aodu & Usman Ibn A. Lapai , Kaduna
Over 200 farmers in three local government areas of Kaduna state have lost tomato crops worth N1 billion to the tomato blight disease caused by the moth that ravaged Kaduna and eight other states, the state Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry, Dr Manzo Maigari, has said.
Addressing correspondents yesterday in Kaduna, while giving the scorecard of the ministry in the last one year, Maigari said that the state government has declared state of emergency on tomato, while consulting experts in Kenya on ways to end the disease.
The Commissioner said that the state government is set to revive 17 grazing reserves, one of which was established in 1944, to create food for pastoralists cattle and end the herdsmen/farmer clash in the state.
“We are declaring state of emergency on tomato to attack the insects that have wiped out 80 per cent tomato in Kaduna and eight other states, such that a basket of tomato now cost N42, 000.
“It happened last year on a small scale, which we didn’t know about until this year. The Dangote tomatoe factory in Kano is shut down due to lack of raw materials.
“Ongoing field survey shows that 200 farmers are affected by the disease with the losses in the region of N1 billion just in three local governments. Tomato is produced in 12 local governments in Kaduna state. We are expecting experts from Kenya to move on as short and long term solution.”
The Commissioner said that the state government was looking at how the grazing reserves can be turned into commercial pasture hubs, noting that there is existing committee set up to take proper records of visiting herdsmen into the grazing reserves but expressed worry that somewhere along the line, the committee failed giving room for visiting herdsmen to use the facility without record.
“These grazing reserves have been existing for a long time. For example, that of Kachia was established in 1944, but they were abandoned. Now the present government has decided to revive these grazing reserves because they have been gazetted,” he stated.
