SAN FRANCISCO, June 02, (THEWILL) – The National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT), Zaria, Kaduna state, says it has developed a vaccine for the tomato pest: tuta absoluta.
Bala Aliyu, the institute’s Public Relations Officer, disclosed this on Thursday, saying the end had come for the disease, which have subjected Nigerians to undue hardship in the last two months.
“This vaccine has been found to be very effective after undergoing various scientific testing,” he said.
According to NAN, Aliyu disclosed that NARICT was partnering with regulatory agencies to certify the vaccine for onward use by farmers in Nigeria and the world at large.
He said all things being equal, the vaccine would be launched soon adding that it was the responsibility of the federal government to ensure the vaccine gets the end-users, farmers.
“We will work with the state and federal government agencies to carry diffuse this important development to our teeming farmers in the country and beyond,” Aliyu added.
Tuta absoluta, a specie of moth in family Gelechiidae, is a well-known serious pest of tomato crops in Europe and South America known by the common names tomato leafminer and South American tomato moth.
THEWILL recalls that the Federal Government had engaged experts to find solution to the spread of the pest, which has ravaged six states across the country.
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