Bomba Dauda
Senator Sunday Marshall Katung representing Southern Kaduna Senatorial District at the Red Chamber, yesterday, during plenary session raised a motion on the urgent need to address the outbreak of a deadly disease affecting Ginger production in his senatorial zone.
According to him, the Senate of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria, unanimously adopted my motion on the urgent need to address the outbreak of a deadly disease affecting Ginger production in Southern Kaduna, Kaduna
Adding that, While presenting the motion, I led the Senate to note that Ginger farming in Southern Kaduna has suffered a significant setback due to an outbreak of fungi pathogens infection that has destroyed over 2,500 hectares of farmlands, estimated at 10 Billion Naira across seven Local Government Areas.
This outbreak has significantly threatened Nigeria’s position on the world chart of Ginger production.
The outbreak of the disease is already affecting the lives of many individuals within the affected communities because ginger is their source of livelihood.
The Senate, after listening to my motion, led by the Senate President, mandated the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to immediately, (and as a matter of particular urgency) provide palliatives to the affected Ginger farmers of Southern Kaduna whose means of livelihood have been completely crippled by the disease.
The Senate, equally calls 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.
The Senate also mandated its Committee on Agriculture and Productivity to interface with the hierarchy of the National Agricultural Quarantine Services and its supervisory Ministry, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, towards conducting an immediate on-the-spot assessment tour of all affected areas of the Ginger pandemic in Southern Kaduna state.
