Zimbabwe: Tomato Leaf Miner Pest Threatens Crop Production
Fresh Tomato
Zimbabwe
Published Nov 6, 2020
Tridge summary
Farmers in various parts of the country are struggling to control and eliminate the Tuta absoluta pest, commonly known as tomato leaf miner which tunnels through leaves, threatening tomato production and trade. The disease which mainly targets tomatoes, tobacco, eggplants and cabbages, is spreading rapidly in most parts of the country, leaving farmers distressed.
Original content
"We are running a thriving garden in Selonga and we are growing vegetables, tomatoes, green mealies, butternuts and watermelons," said Limakatso Moyo, a member of the Selonga-Phakama Community Garden which was supported with solar-powered irrigation by Practical Action. "You leave your tomato crop in the garden in good shape one day, but when you return to the garden the next year to harvest, you may find that all the tomatoes have been infested. "The moth eats everything. Our Agritex officer told us the pest is called Tuta absoluta and it's quite destructive to the tomato crop. We are poor and we don't have much money to buy chemicals to control the pests." Said Maria Mahlangu, another farmer in Selonga: "We have so far earned more than R5 500 from our crop sales, but our output is now under threat from Tuta. From our garden crop sales, we have bought 10 goats. We could have earned more had our tomato crop not come under massive attack from Tuta." The US$1,3 million project ...
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