FG develops new pesticide to fight ‘tomato Ebola’

A new pesticide to fight the dangerous pest, Tuta absoluta, currently ravaging tomato farms in the country has been developed, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu has said. Dr Onu, who revealed the new discovery at a press conference in Abuja Friday, said the new pesticide will solve the problem of tomato […]

A new pesticide to fight the dangerous pest, Tuta absoluta, currently ravaging tomato farms in the country has been developed, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu has said.

Dr Onu, who revealed the new discovery at a press conference in Abuja Friday, said the new pesticide will solve the problem of tomato shortage being experienced by Nigerians.

The new pesticide is very effective against the ‘tuta absoluta’ otherwise known as ‘Tomato Ebola’ and it will soon be released to the farmers, according to the minister, who did not give the name of the pesticide.

“…And very recently the nation woke up to hear a pest ravaged our tomato farms in many parts of the country. We as a nation recorded a lot of losses and as a result of that our factories were unable to get enough supply of tomatoes and had to shut down. Fortunately for us, a new pesticide has just been developed by the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT), Zaria. It is very effective against the new tomatoes pest, by name Tuta absoluta,” Dr Onu said.

He said researchers working for the government had been having sleepless nights on how to tame the dangerous pest since its coming few months ago.

He commended the NARICT scientists for coming up with the new solution, saying the institute has saved the country billions of naira which would have been used to import pesticide from abroad.