By Yakubu Uba
Prices of perishable items have recorded a fall in some major towns in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
NAN check at Perishable Items Market, Damaturu in Yobe, revealed that the prices have dropped by about 50 per cent.
A big basket of tomatoes sold at N120,000 between April and May now cost N40,000, while a small basket previously sold at N75,000 is now going for N18,000.
A bag of pepper sold at N170,000 same period now cost N82,000, while a bag of pepper goes for N70,000 as against N75,000 sold in July.
Similarly, a bag of Okro which was sold at N50,000 within the period under review, now goes for N25,000.
However, prices of onions have increased as a bag of the item which cost between N28,000 and N30,000 three to four months ago, now rose to N50,000.
The market’s Chairman, Alhaji Muazu Abbas, attributed the drop to arrival of new items in the market.
“Prices of perishable items usually drop whenever harvests are made and new goods arrive in the market, but the prices rise when there is shortage of goods,” he said.
However, the price of yam has skyrocketed at Bayan Tasha Market in the metropolis.
NAN check revealed that two small tubers of yam sold at N1,500 in 2023, now cost N4,000, while three big tubers that went for N3,500 within the period, now go for N15,000.
When contacted, the Yam Sellers Leader in the market, Alhaji Habibu Mohammed, blamed the sharp rise on shortage of supply of the items to the market.
He also blamed the hike on an increase in the cost of transporting the items to the market from Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau states.
On his part, Alhaji Usman Ngari, Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Yobe Chapter, expressed concern over the high cost of establishing food crop storage facilities.
“Storage facilities preserve crops and increase profit, especially in cultivation of perishable items.
“Unfortunately, establishing such factories is capital intensive and most of us do not have that kind of money,” he said.
Ngari called on the government at all levels to support farmers with capital to acquire storage facilities to boost their productivity and income levels.
In Borno, the prices of perishable goods are the same as Yobe, but the traders said they are still looking forward to more fall in prices in a few months when farmers will start harvesting tomatoes and other perishables in the state.
“The supplies we are getting now are from Kaduna and Kano,” Isa Mohammed, a dealer in Maiduguri vegetable market said.
Mustapha Usman, a grain dealer said the prices of grains produced in Borno like local rice, beans, maize, and millet have continued to remain high and could only come down when harvest commenced in October.
Also in Adamawa, while there was a fall in prices of perishables due to harvest, that of grains have continued to remain high.
Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed, the Chairman of Adamawa Chapter of the Nigeria Small Scale Industrialists, noted that a bag of 100kg of maize that used to sell for N60,000 last year by this time is now N90,000.
“That of white bean that sold for N75,000 is now N160,000.”
“We just have to wait and what will happen when the harvest commences in a few weeks.”
(NAN)
