The National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT), Zaria say they have found a pesticide capable of killing a species of moth popularly known as “Tomato Ebola´ that has ravaged the country’s tomato crop.
The Tomato Leaf Miner moth has destroyed over 80% of tomato farms in the north where it is grown in large commercial value.
Other states in the north, have been badly hit too and farmers have lost millions in monetary value.
According to the institute’s Public Relations Officer, Bala Aliyu, the end had come for the disease.
According to Aliyu, Tuta absoluta is a specie of moth in family Gelechiidae known by the common names tomato leafminer and South American tomato moth.
Aliyu was positive that the vaccine would soon be launched, adding that it was the responsibility of the Federal Government nothing that it was the duty of government toget the vaccines to the end-users, farmers.
Farmers affected by the moth will have to wait as the new pesticide is not yet ready for commercially purpose.
The disease has drastically reduced locally available fresh tomatoes, forcing consumers to buy canned purees or pastes which are relatively cheaper to buy.
