By; USMAN NASIDI, Kaduna
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, has assured ginger farmers whose farmlands and product were recently affected by a strange fungal disease in Kaduna of the Federal Government’s intervention.
The Federal Government’s assurance for succour comes after few weeks that over two hundred ginger farmlands and produce worth ten billion Naira were destroyed in Southern part of Kaduna State.
The minister who was represented by the Assistant Chief Agric Officer; Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mrs. Rita Agbogo made the assurance of the minister’s quick intervention during a visit to the affected farmlands in Southern Kaduna on Thursday.
The representative of the minister who is the leader of a five-man delegation to Southern Kaduna, reiterated the commitment of the ministry towards finding lasting solution to prevent further occurrence of the disaster and to ensure that the affected farmers are provided with the adequate support.
” We are already feeling the pains of our dear ginger farmers and that is why we are here on the mission of damage assessment. With our visit to some of these farmlands, we have seen to what extent the damage was. We are going to recommend to the ministry what is the best way to help the affected farmers out of the present situation,” Mrs. Agbogo explained.
When asked, what could be the cause of the fungal disease, she however said, “as we speak now, we are yet to know the cause of the damage, and that is why we are here with other relevant organisations. We will make research and continue to liaise with these organisations in order to know the cause and prevent future occurrence.
“The cause could be the type of seeds, soil, source of the seeds, and it could be any other factor, but for now, we cannot say what really happened.”
While fielding questions from journalists, the National President of the National Ginger Association of Nigeria, Nuhu Daudu commended the minister for his quick response towards finding a long-term measures to prevent future occurrence of what he described as an ugly situation.
Daudu further explained that definitely, the damage will impact negatively on the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
