The Senate on Tuesday adopted a motion which was sponsored by Senator Sunday Marshall Katung representing Kaduna South Senatorial District, seeking intervention in farmers’ loss of ginger worth N10 billion due to pathogenic diseases.
In the motion, the lawmaker called for urgent need to address the outbreak of a deadly disease affecting ginger production in Southern Kaduna which has caused a devastating effect to farmers.
Katung said ginger has been grown in the Southern part of Kaduna State since about 1927, and it has steadily increased in its importance as a valuable commodity over the intervening years, but never witnessed destruction of this magnitude due to diseases.
The motion further noted “that Kaduna State ranks the highest in ginger production in Nigeria, contributing to Nigeria’s place as one of the largest producers of ginger in the world, with a production average of more than 300,000 tonnes during the five-year period 2014-2018, and a global market share of about 11 per cent, trailing only India;
“Cognizant that as a subset of the agricultural sector, ginger production has a significant impact on revenue generation and farmers income, thereby reducing the rate of poverty amongst the local farmers of southern Kaduna and the country at large;
“Also cognizant that apart from its revenue generating potential, the consumption of ginger has many health benefits ranging from the prevention of stomach ulcers, the reduction of nausea and vomiting amongst pregnant women, to chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients;
“Worried that the 2023 ginger season in Southern Kaduna State has suffered a significant setback due to an outbreak of fungi pathogens infection destroying over 2,500 hectares of farmlands estimated at 10 Billion Naira across seven Local Government Areas of southern Kaduna State, thereby significantly threatening Nigeria’s position on the world chart of ginger production;
“Also worried that this devastating and unprecedented ginger pandemic affects Nigeria’s non-oil export performance and is already affecting the lives of many individuals within the affected communities of southern Kaduna because ginger is their source of livelihood.”
After contributions highlighting the importance of ginger production, the Senate mandated its Committee on Agricultural Production and Rural Development to interface with the hierarchy of the National Agricultural Quarantine Services and its supervisory Ministry, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
The Committee was asked to conduct an on-the-spot assessment tour of all affected areas of the ginger pandemic in Southern Kaduna state.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio called on the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to immediately coordinate surveillance systems to collect, analyze and interpret data on this disease, towards the prevention of further spread or phytonoses.
