By Moh Bello Habib
Zaria
A senior researcher at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Prof. Bashir Ahmad-Babaji, has advocated for research on heat-tolerant tomato varieties, to reduce the scarcity of the commodity in the country.
He made the suggestion in an exclusive interview with Blueprint in Zaria, yesterday.
Babaji said “Nigeria usually experiences acute shortage of tomatoes at the beginning of every rainy season, because tomatoes cultivated during the dry season cannot survive the rainy season.”
According to him, tomatoes are a cool-loving and non heat-tolerant crop; hence, the need to intensify efforts toward coming up with new varieties that are heat-tolerant.
“One of the ways to address this peculiar problem is to develop heat-tolerant tomato varieties; already, our scientists have done something on that.
“Initially, IAR had the mandate of genetic improvement on tomato; during that time, we have done a good number of things by developing some few tomato varieties.
“But when the mandate was transferred to the National Horticulture Research Institute, all the genetics works have been transferred to that place,” he said.
Babaji said in an effort to ameliorate the menace, IAR had developed UC82, a little bit heat-tolerant variety, which had been in the market.
He said for “Nigeria to effectively tackle the problem, there is the need to address problems arising from pests and diseases, humidity and non-heat- tolerant varieties.
The horticulture expert pointed out that in the next three to four years, farmers would expect new heat-tolerant varieties that “will adapt to the Nigerian climate.”
He added that when such move was actualised, farmers would be able to cultivate tomato all-year round without any interference.
Babaji identified ice-rain and heavy rainfall as other problems directly affecting tomato cultivation during the rainy season.
