Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) have visited ginger farms ravaged by strange fungi to ascertain the damage in Kaduna State.

The Senate had, in October, asked NEMA to provide relief materials to farmers, who had lost over N10 billion to the disease.

Southern Kaduna is one of the largest producers of ginger in the world.

The NEMA team led by Aisha Yakubu of the Relief and Rehabilitation in Kaduna office, said the visit was to carry out an assessment on the level of damage and make recommendations for possible interventions.

Ms Yakubu said they could not immediately inspect all the affected farms because of the number, adding that the ones visited would serve as specimens to cover the entire zone.

She sympathised with the farmers over the unfortunate incident and pledged the agency’s resolve to provide relief to those in need.

Some farmers who spoke to journalists called on NEMA to expedite the process of providing seedlings and relief materials to thousands of farmers in the area.

The farmers expressed their willingness to commence dry season irrigation farming of ginger to recover fast from the setback occasioned by the fungal attack this year.

In Kachia Local Government Area, one of the large-scale farmers, Suleiman Abubakar, appreciated the NEMA team for visiting to see the damage level and expressed hope that relief would come soon.

Also speaking, Edward Auta, a farmer, thanked Senator Sunday Katung (PDP-Kaduna South) for raising the issue on the floor of the Senate, which prompted the NEMA’s visit to the area.

Mr Auta said that most of the farmers were facing litigation while some had died due to the huge loss they suffered.

Earlier, while receiving the NEMA team in Kafanchan, Mr Katung commended the agency for responding to the need to provide relief to farmers in his constituency who depend largely on ginger farming to survive.

The NEMA team visited ginger farmlands in Kachia, Zango Kataf, Jema’a, Jaba, Kagarko, and Kaura Local Government Areas.

(NAN)