"A breakthrough", NIHORT unveils high-yield tomato and pepper seeds, calls on farmers

• In 2024, the terms of tomatoes and peppers accrued astronomically owed to mediocre output and different factors
• But since 2025, prices person been connected a diminution amid a large herb glut successful the harvest seasons
• A probe institute successful Nigeria has present released high-yield herb and capsicum seeds, promising a bumper harvest for farmers

Legit.ng writer Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has implicit a decennary of acquisition successful concern reporting crossed integer and mainstream media.

New varieties of tomatoes and peppers are astir to deed the Nigerian markets, arsenic the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) has released 4 new, high-performing varieties.

According to NIHORT, these caller varieties are the merchandise of intensive probe done by the institute to code the low-yield challenges faced by herb and capsicum farmers, and make a assortment that would person precocious absorption to illness and pests.

Announcing the development, the Executive Director of NIHORT, Prof Mohammed Atanda, described it a large milestone towards enhancing nutrient information and boosting farmers income done accrued harvest yield.

Accoording to NIHORT, the seeds could nutrient up to 300% summation successful output per hectare. Photo credit: Gideon Mendel
Source: Getty Images

He added that the caller seeds would besides trim Nigeria’s reliance connected imported rootlike seeds.

NIHORT unveils caller varieties of tomato, pepper

The caller varieties unveiled see 2 herb cultivars named HORTITOM4 and HORTITOM5 – and 2 yellowish aromatic capsicum cultivars – HORTIPEP1 and HORTIPEP2.

All 4 varieties person been approved by the National Committee connected Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock/Fisheries connected April 15, 2025.

The NIHORT Boss described it arsenic a breakthrough for Nigerian farmers, fixed the indispensable quality of herb and peppers to Nigerian households, the NATION reports.

He noted that this would go the solution to Nigeria’s nationalist mean herb output of 3.4 tonnes per hectare, which has lagged down different countries successful the satellite owed to the challenges Nigerian farmers face.

Recall that the federal government promised to find a solution to the mediocre tomato yield, which led to a terms summation past year.

NIHORT caller varieties to summation tomato, capsicum yield

Professor Atanda explained that the HORTITOM4 and HORTITOM5 are axenic enactment varieties with a determinate maturation wont and are suitable for each kinds of cultivation, including the unfastened tract rain-fed cultivation, screenhouse farming, and irrigated systems.

They are adapted to antithetic farming environments from the rainforest, derived guinea, and Sudan Savanna ecologies; person a precocious tolerance to bacterial wilt, and person high-yield effect with indispensable nutrients similar vitamin C, lycopene, and carotenoids.

Importantly, they person a maturity play of 80 to 90 days, yielding up to 21.7 to 27.2 tonnes per hectare, a monolithic leap from the existent 3.9 to 10 tonnes per hectare crossed Nigeria.

The HORTIPEP1 and HORTIPEP2, according to Prof Atanda, are open-pollinated varieties with an erect works wont and charismatic yellowish mature fruits that are besides suited for each of Nigeria’s farming environments.

Atanda noted;

“Importantly, these caller capsicum varieties grounds absorption to Cucumber mosaic microorganism and bacterial wilt, and they are besides tolerant to the destructive capsicum effect fly. They are besides precise pungent and person fantabulous nutritional qualities, being affluent successful capsaicin, Vitamin C, and Beta carotene.”

He added that the maturity play for some varieties ranges from 100 to 125 days with yields ranging from 18.6 to 20.11 tonnes per hectare.

The accrued output could besides importantly curb the seasonal summation successful tomato and capsicum prices.

He expressed optimism that these caller releases volition accelerate the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to modulate the rootlike effect markets, and trim the import of rootlike seeds, frankincense redeeming overmuch needed overseas exchange.

NIHORT's high-yield seeds promises up to 4 harvest seasons for herb and 3 for pepper. Photo credit: James Marshall
Source: Getty Images

The abundance of the merchandise could besides summation processing activities successful Nigeria, creating much employment opportunities crossed the worth chain.

Atanda stated that Nigeria’s extremity of achieving nutrient information is present 1 notch person with the caller varieties, adding that NIHORT would enactment with the effect companies arsenic directed by the Ministry of Agriculture to facilitate the multiplication of the seeds and marque the improved seeds disposable to Nigerian farmers.

Nigerians banal up connected tomatoes arsenic prices crash

In related news, Legit.ng reported a large clang successful the terms of tomatoes successful January this year.

After months of buying them astatine costly prices, Nigerians utilized to stock up connected tomatoes erstwhile the terms crashed by 90%.

Farmers noted that this was owed to the harvest season, adding that it would not past each year.

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Source: Legit.ng