By Bisola Adeyemo
The National Secretary, Tomato Farmers Association, Sani Danladi Yadakwari has urged the government at all levels to support farmers with high bred tomato seeds or to establish a cluster were a seedling will be raised in order to make high bred seed available and more affordable.
Recall that Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar expressed concern that Nigeria is not among the leading tomato exporting countries, despite being rated as one of the leading producers of the crop in Africa.
The minister attributed this to challenges of low yield resulting from seed type used.
Speaking with NatureNews on Monday, Danladi said the type of seed used during plantation determine the output of any crop, especially in tomatoes.
High bred tomato seeds give a higher yield and also makes the quality of product different.
“The current intervention from CBN Anchor Borrowers program have made farmers to realize the importance of high bred seed,” he added.
Speaking on challenges that farmers face, Danladi lamented that the issue of post-harvest loss takes almost 45% of the tomato harvested from the farm gate to the final consumer.
“We urge the federal government to assist our farmers with quality tools to reduce post-harvest loss, this will increase the quantity of the produce and quality which by extension provide more profit to our teeming smallholder farmers,” he added.