Ginger blight in Nigeria: C’ttee seeks establishment of formal seed system

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 ...