Association’s scribe wants Customs to intensify effort on tomato levy

The National Secretary, Tomato Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Sanni Danladi Yadakwari

The National Secretary, Tomato Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Sanni Danladi Yadakwari has demanded that Nigerian Custom Services (NCS) constitute an inspection committee that would monitor and scrutinize the import  activities of tomato processing companies in Nigeria towards revenue generation via levies. He disclosed this in an exclusive interview at Abuja.  

 He said that Custom Services had not been able to arrest any of the tomato smugglers, and yet there were no record of revenue generation through levy stressing that efforts should be expedited to constitute an inspection committee comprising officials of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) and members of his association that would visit these companies for verification of their import clearance and other documents.

His words: ‘’ in the speech of our president he emphasised on the need for customs, FMITI and our association to form an inspection team to inspect the companies in Lagos who are part of people we suspect to show us their import clearance or particulars to reflect what and what they have imported. If it is import we can see and if it was also smuggled we can see. So we can use all these levy money to develop the value chains of the crop.’’

He noted that the action was very necessary so as to raise funds for the development of the tomato value chains in order to meet standards, even as farmers are properly trained with best agricultural practice that would ensure produce acceptability.

On border closure, he expressed happiness saying that ‘’ policy cannot work as long as the porous borders are not properly manned to checkmate all manners of inferior goods that people prefer over our fresh healthy agricultural produce. Now farmers are happy, there is less glut and this will make farmers to quickly go back to their farms for more production and thereby increase volume capacity.’’

While speaking on Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), he commended the apex bank for the inclusion of tomato crop in this programme for the cultivation of 10,000 hectares of which about 60 percent of the disbursement had been made for inputs’ providers through the specified commercial bank.

 He promised that as soon as the Dangote seeds are available the cultivation and planting would commence explaining that Dangote seeds became the preferred one because the company was going to off take everything from the farmers.

Yadakwari, who said that the specification of Dangote becomes necessary in order to ensure market for farmers, added that the association was imploring more seed companies and off takers to engage in the production of tomato improved seeds for the expansion of the seeds’ market in the sub sector.

He disclosed that the total loan value including insurance and interest was N723, 418.46k per hectare while 60,000 naira per hectare would be the only cash that would be given for weeding of the farm while both money for inputs and mechanization are going to be paid directly to the suppliers.

On issue of diseases affecting the crop, he disclosed that army worm spread could now be properly contained with availability of chemicals adding that Tuta absoluta as well could be checkmated with timely planting and harvesting before January as ‘’ you hardly find the disease around October to December, but may be noticeable by January because of increase in temperature.’’