According to the federal government of Nigeria, farmers have lost more than N12 billion as a result of the ginger blight disease epidemic that has affected four states in the country.
This information was revealed on Monday during the National Ginger Blight Epidemic Control Taskforce’s inauguration in Abuja by Aliyu Abdullahi, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security.
He reported that the Federal Capital Territory, the Nasarawa Plateau, and Kaduna’s ginger farms have suffered serious losses due to the fungal disease.
He continued by saying that the blight has damaged Nigeria’s standing and the prospects for farmers, costing billions of naira in losses. Nigeria is the second-largest producer of ginger worldwide.
According to our early calculations, the impacted farmers in southern Kaduna may have lost more than N12 billion.
Furthermore, he said, “we can safely assume a substantial loss of cultivated land, potentially exceeding 70% of total land, considering that over 85% of Nigeria’s ginger occurs in this region.”
According to Abdullahi, the affected farmers in ginger-producing areas would receive a N1.6 billion recovery package from the Federal Government through the National Agricultural Development Fund.
“It is imperative and highly necessary to establish multiple subcommittees in order to prevent these detrimental consequences,” he declared.