The Senate has expressed worry, and adopted a motion seeking the Federal government’s intervention in the farmers’ losses of ginger worth N10 billion to pathogenic diseases.
The motion sponsored by Senator Sunday Katung, who represents Kaduna South Senatorial District, called for urgent government action to address the outbreak of disease, which affects ginger production in Southern Kaduna.
According to Katung, since 1927 of ginger production in the area, the farmers have never witnessed such destruction of the crop as is being witnessed presently.
“Kaduna State ranks the highest in ginger production in Nigeria, contributing to Nigeria’s place as one of the largest producers of ginger in the world, with a production average of more than 300,000 tonnes during the five-year period 2014-2018, and a global market share of about 11 per cent, trailing only India.
“Cognizant that as a subset of the agricultural sector, ginger production has a significant impact on revenue generation and farmers income, thereby reducing the rate of poverty amongst the local farmers of southern Kaduna and the country at large.
“Also cognizant that apart from its revenue generating potential, the consumption of ginger has many health benefits ranging from the prevention of stomach ulcers, the reduction of nausea and vomiting amongst pregnant women, to chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients.
“Worried that the 2023 ginger season in Southern Kaduna State has suffered a significant setback due to an outbreak of fungi pathogens infection destroying over 2,500 hectares of farmlands estimated at 10 Billion Naira across seven Local Government Areas of southern Kaduna State, thereby significantly threatening Nigeria’s position on the world chart of ginger production.
“Also worried that this devastating and unprecedented ginger pandemic affects Nigeria’s non-oil export performance and is already affecting the lives of many individuals within the affected communities of southern Kaduna because ginger is their source of livelihood,” the motion reads.
The Senate therefore mandated its Committee on Agricultural Production and Rural Development, to interface with the hierarchy of the National Agricultural Quarantine Services and its supervisory Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
The Committee was asked to conduct an on-the-spot assessment tour of all affected areas of the ginger pandemic in Southern Kaduna state.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio called on the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), to coordinate surveillance systems to collect, analyze and interpret data on this disease, towards the prevention of further spread or phytonoses.
