Since its first appearance in Northern Nigeria over a decade ago, Tuta Absoluta has destroyed tomato farms in key growing states, leading to scarcity and price surges.
But experts in the value chain say adopting climate-smart agriculture and utilising authentic agrochemicals can help to combat the decade-old tomato infestation.
“We need to move past dry season tomato farming because this is when Tuta’s attack is at its peak,” said Sani Danladi, national chairman of the Association of Tomato Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria.
“However, rain rarely falls in the North, which is making it difficult for us to manage the pest. A lot of farmers cannot afford regular irrigation, so we do what we can,” he explained to BusinessDay.
“It is high time we adopted climate-smart farming techniques to control this pest. We cannot continue farming like we always do,” he added.
The Kaduna tomato farmer shared how he and other farmers in the state lost their large hectares of tomato farms to the outbreak.
However, they are not alone. The federal government revealed recently that Nigeria lost about N1.3 billion this year to Tuta Absoluta, especially in Kaduna and Kano.
Tuta Absoluta, also popularly known as ‘tomato ebola’ or ‘tomato leafminer,’ first appeared in Peru, North America in 1917, and has since spread to the rest of the world through infected tomato seedlings by farmers from other countries.
And so far, all interventions by the Nigerian government in tackling it have proven to be unsuccessful.
Danladi emphasised the impact of climate change as a major factor in the recurrence of the disease. According to him, lack of rainfall in many parts of Northern Nigeria, where the vegetable is grown, makes it easy for the pest to breed.
“The pest only survives where there is heat; replace that with rainfall and it cannot survive. In fact, many pests cannot survive where there is constant rainfall, and this is a major challenge in the north.”
According to the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), the 2025 seasonal climate prediction indicates that several northern states in Nigeria are expected to experience a delayed onset of rainfall, including Kaduna.
Research has shown that the pest only thrives in countries with tropical climates. In 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) declared the pest a major threat after its outbreaks in Rwanda – a warm country where tomato is grown.
Read also: Tomato prices hit record high on Tuta Absoluta outbreak, seasonality
Shuaibu Bulama, a representative of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, said it is time for Africa’s most populous nation utilised authentic agrochemicals because “a lot of the insecticides that are used to tackle Tuta Absoluta are of inferior quality.”
“Added to this is also that many farmers lack the technical know-how needed to apply these chemicals,” he noted. Therefore, he said farmers should be trained on how best to apply insecticides so the pest does not get immune.
“We also have cases of resistance. When farmers don’t stick to the application guidelines, Tuta can become immune to the chemicals.”
According to the International Journal of Pest Management, the larvae of Tuta Absoluta can become immune to agrochemicals due to frequent and incorrect utilisation by farmers.
The journal added that enhancing tomato resilience to Tuta Absoluta and other pests requires proper nutrient supplementation and improved soil fertility, noting that this can be achieved by incorporating organic matter, such as manure and compost, reducing excessive nitrogen inputs, and adapting cover crop tactics.
Data from the FAO shows how Nigeria’s tomato production dropped to 3.47 tons in 2023 from 3.95 tons in 2020 on the back of a Tuta Absoluta outbreak that ravaged more than 70 percent of tomato production in 2023.
Matthew Aluko, sub-dean at the Department of Crop Horticulture and Landscape Design in Ekiti State University, said adopting climate-smart agriculture and utilising effective pesticides are the solutions to continuous Tuta Absoluta outbreak.
“Another solution that we can look into is using technology that aids early detection of the insect on farms. This will go a long way in eradicating it before it lays eggs that will then go on to multiply,” he said.
