Figure
gotten from major markets from the commercial city of Lagos including;
Whitesand, Iddo, Oko Oba, as well as the popular Mile 12 market, show
that the prices of commodities have dropped ahead of Christmas.
File photo
Ahead of Christmas celebration, prices of tomatoes, pepper and
onions have reduced by about 45 per cent in Lagos, the News Agency of
Nigeria reports.
NAN price checks at Mile 12, Whitesand, Iddo and Oko Oba markets in
Lagos on Monday, revealed that the drop in prices was due to bumper
harvest of agricultural produce.
NAN reports that a basket of tomatoes, which previously sold for
N15, 000 now goes for N8, 000 while red pepper (tatashe) now cost N8000
compared to its previous price of N14, 000 a basket.
A basket of chilli pepper (rodo) also reduced from N18, 000 to N10,
000 and a jute bag of onions, which previously cost N30, 000, now goes
for N20, 000.
A 25-litre of vegetable oil, which previously sold for N11, 500,
now cost N10, 700, palm oil decreased from N11, 000 to N10, 300, while a
measure of garri now cost N400.
However, the price of a 50 kilogramme bag of rice ranged between
N13, 500 to N17, 000, depending on the brand while a measure of beans
cost N1,500.
Femi Odusanya, spokesman for Mile 12 Market Traders Association,
attributed the price drop to the ongoing harvest season for most of the
produce.
“Over 20 per cent of the annual four million metric tonnes of
tomatoes produced in the country is supplied to Mile 12 Market annually
and redistributed to over 400 markets in Lagos and Ogun State and six
ECOWAS countries.
“About 200, 000 metric tonnes of the 800,000 metric tonnes of
tomatoes annually supplied to Mile 12 Market get wasted due to
postharvest losses.
“Presently, the supply of the produce is more than the demand
because farmers commenced harvest in December and there would be surplus
in the market till April when the harvest season would end.
“That is why we have been advocating for increased investment
in tomato processing plant to mop up the excess and reduce waste, create
jobs and increase contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” Odusanya said.
He urged the three tiers of government to create an enabling
environment toward attracting more investors to tomato processing in the
country.
(NAN)
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