How we assist onions, tomatoes, and pepper farmers, says NIHORT, Kano station

The head of station, National Institute for Horticultural Research Institute ( NIHORT), Kano, Dr. Idris Bala Abdullahi, has said that farmers planting onions, peppers, and tomatoes in the far north have been assisted in many ways to get a competitive yield through improved seeds and provision of organic pesticides to combat worm and other wilt diseases between 2024 and 2025 planting seasons.

Dr. Idris Bala Abdullahi responding to questions from Foodfarmnews after reporting the challenges farmers planting pepper, onions, and tomatoes faced between 2024 and 2025 through planting unadaptable seeds, and those confronted for not being able to properly manage pest diseases.  

Abdullahi acknowledged the planting of the fake imported onion seeds by farmers with an untraceable source, saying that NIHORT had to quickly intervene with an improved variety that would soon be officially released.

He added that the intervention was carried out with the members of the onion association through training in the affected states in company of the association's chairman.

The head of the station said that findings revealed farmers actually procured these seeds because it was cheaper than the existing varieties, and that it actually gave farmers problems.

According to him, "over 100 tons were imported. NIHORT tried to intervene through a survey in Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi to find out what happened. We had training with onion farmers to prevent the challenge. The seeds are imported from China, and those who imported them cannot be identified. What NIHORT in Kano did was to produce three hectares of seeds to help farmers in onion production, and we will soon officially release those new varieties for farmers."

On pepper, the Head of Kano station pointed out that farmers producing pepper had more challenges than onions due to taunt growth according to the findings of the committee constituted by the Nihort leadership with the support of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) who provided preventive products of insecticide for farmers to control the disease.

Dr. Abdullahi stated further that his institute has in about two weeks ago, officially released through the National Varietal Release Committee (NVRC) new varieties of tomatoes and peppers for farmers' use.