Following the outbreak of a devastating ginger blight last year, the office of the Vice President mandated the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to tackle the fungal disease that caused huge losses to farmers in the four major producing states.
In response, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, inaugurated the National Ginger Blight Epidemic Control Taskforce headed by Engr. Abubakar Abdullahi, Director, Federal Department of Agriculture.
The taskforce is charged with developing strategies to contain outbreak of ginger blight in Kaduna, Nasarawa and Plateau states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Last Tuesday, the committee led by the chairman, Engr. Abubakar Abdullahi; the Executive Secretary/CEO of the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), Mohammed Abu Ibrahim; and a representative of the Director General of the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), Dr Ishiak Khalid, submitted the Ginger Seed Road Map to the minister, Sen Abubakar Kyari, for action.
The Executive Secretary/CEO of NADF, Mohammed Abu Ibrahim, told the minister that the fund has so far spent about N1.6 billion in providing support to the affected farmers covering over 5,000 hectares.
The committee identified key challenges to tracing the disease, fusarium and other bacterial infections, by the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Abia State.
The taskforce also found that there is no formal seed system for ginger in Nigeria, which made the farmers to plant whatever they laid their hands on, adding that “We also understand that for most vegetatively propagated crops like ginger, there’s always a competition between the seed and the actual products.
The committee recommended that NRCRI should be in the forefront of research and development, focusing majorly on disease-resistant varieties, improved cultivation practices and sustainable farming methods, while the NASC should establish a formal system to enhance seed certification protocols and promote public-private partnerships.
They also emphasised the need to strengthen training programmes to educate farmers while availing them of modern agricultural techniques in ginger production in the country.
Currently, farmers are using two ginger varieties which have been developed and registered: UMUGIN 1 and UMUGIN 2. However, the committee wants more research in the production of new varieties.
Nigerian ginger is highly sought after because of its high oil content and pungency, which are very distinct in the world market.