WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TOMATOES SCACITY PMB OR DANGOTE?

I have read in the recent times several uncomplimentary writeup accusing the present administration for the scarcity of tomatoes while some have put the blame on Dangote but in making effort to set the record straight on the tomatoes production that is under siege in Nigeria , I will want to blame the information handlers of the

Government for not communicating well with us . The real reason for the tomatoes scarcity is a devastating pest attack which has affected this year’s harvest, the pest call ‘Tuta absoluta’ has reportedly affected tomato farms in Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Plateau states, unfortunately about 75 per cent of the total tomatoes consumed is being produced in Kano and Jigawa .The tomatoes plague came into the country unnoticed and caught both farmers and the government unaware. I also think a section of the Nigerian media has not been fair to Aliko Dangote for accusing him for tomatoes shortage when Dangote Farms Tomato Processing Factory had to halt operations in its $20 million tomato paste facility due to a scarcity of tomatoes, barely two months after beginning operations , According to Dangote , he established the tomato processing plant to help reduce wastage of the tomatoes and to also minimise the amount of imported tomato pastes in the Nigerian market because from the statistic obtained from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Nigeria produces about 1.5 million tons of tomatoes a year, but over 900,000 tons is lost to rot.
The ‘Tuta absoluta’ has the ability to destroy a whole tomato farm within 48 hours and is also very difficult to control as it has a high mutation capacity with the ability to develop a resistance to insecticides. It took Sudan about three years to recover from a similar attack in 2010 but the good news however is that the Agric Ministry is fast putting the attack under control .
Setting the record straight, Tomato production is under siege not because of Buhari’s Economic policy or Dangote factory but because of the pest called Tuta absoluta ,
Tuta absoluta is a very harmful leaf mining moth with a strong preference for tomatoes