Vincent A. Yusuf (Abuja), MagajiIsa Hunkuyi (Jalingo) Abubakar Akote, (Minna), Ali Rabiu Ali, (Dutse) & Zahraddeen Yakubu Shuaibu (Kano)
Despite dry season harvest across the North, prices of grains, particularly paddy, maize and wheat, have been volatile across the country.
News of subsidy removal has further heightened the instability in the grain business.
Our correspondents across the states said prices were so unpredictable that within one week, it had risen and fallen in the supply and demand curve of many commodities, including vegetables.
In Agyuaragu and Doma markets in Nasarawa State, for example, 100kg of paddy rose from N37,000 to N43,000 last week, while maize rose from N28,000 to N31,000.
In Taraba, a state that offers cheaper grains, our correspondent gathered that a100kg bag of paddy rice has gone from N19,000 to N30,000, a 100kg bag of maize sold at the rate of N19,000 and N20,000 before the increase in the price of petrol, is now at the rate of N28,000.
Further findings also revealed that the price of dried cassava, yam, millet and soybeans increased to about 20 per cent last week
Twenty-five litres of palm oil, which was sold at the rate of N18,000 is now N30,000.
Prices of vegetables have also gone up to about 150 per cent.
A 50kg bag of pepper sold at the rate of N8,000 is now N21,000, while a 100kg bag of onions sold at the rate of N9,000 before the fuel subsidy removal is now N20,000.
Traders interviewed blamed the price increase on foodstuff to the new price of petrol.
A vegetable dealer at the Tashan Lau market in Jalingo, Musa Garba, told our correspondent that 90 per cent of vegetables in Taraba markets came from Gombe, Yobe, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna and Katsina states.
He said the cost of transporting the vegetables had increased.
He said an 18-seater bus, which cost N80,000 to convey vegetables from Jigawa State to Jalingo, now costs N170,000.
However, at the Mutumbiyu grain market, a trader, Kamal Adamu, told our correspondent yesterday that prices of some farm produce crashed in the market.
Adamu disclosed that a 100kg bag of paddy rice is sold at N23,000 while a 100 kg bag of maize costs N24,000.
According to him, few days ago, a bag of paddy rice was sold at N30,000 while a bag of maize cost N28,000.
Similarly, a large scale rice farmer, Saidu Isa, told our correspondent that he sold 1,000 bags of paddy rice at the rate of N23,000 per bag.
He said he produced about 3,200 bags of paddy rice in his irrigation farm in the Mutumbiyu area.
He also said that with the cost of petrol, fertiliser and other farm produce, it would be difficult for farmers to make profit.
Another trader, Adamu Umar, told Daily Trust on Sunday that the crash in prices of paddy rice and other farm produce in the state might not be unconnected with the rainfall being witnessed across the state.
“When there was no rainfall, farmers did not bring out their produce to the market, but as rainfall stabilised, they are bringing out their stock for sale,” he said.
Umar explained that every year, when rainfall stabilised, farmers would bring out their stocks to sell and use the proceeds for farming activities.
Like Taraba, a similar situation is playing out in Kano as the prices of some farm produce are on the rise while others are falling. Maize and sorghum are said to be falling, while rice and wheat are fluctuating, with no standard price.
A trader in the popular Dawanau Grains Market, Ali Adamu Jauro, said they were experiencing decline in some of the prices, and some are being imported into the state and the region.
He said maize that sold at N35,000 now costs between N26,000 and N28,000, adding that the same thing applied to sorghum.
Jauro said wheat had been fluctuating with no stable price. He said although it is not on the rise, the commodity is divided into two – foreign and domestic.
“The foreign one is cheaper, and it costs between N32,000 and N35,000, while the domestic one is sold between N36,000 and N39,000. The reason for the change is in the quality and size of the wheat,” he said.
Another trader from Kura Local Government Area said paddy rice cost between N26,000 and N28,000.
In Niger State, Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that the price of a bag of paddy rice is between N23,000 and N25,000.
A farmer in Wushishi Local Government Area, Mallam Mahmud Mohammed, said the price of paddy rice per bag was between N23,000 and N25,000, and it is available in markets.
Also speaking, a farmer in Lavun Local Government, Mallam Aliyu Mohammed, told our correspondent that paddy rice cost between N25,000 and N27,000 due to high demand from farmers for planting.
“The only time the price of paddy rice came down drastically was during naira scarcity. At that time, it went as low as N10,000 as long as you had cash to give farmers. The price fell from N21,000, but with the availability of cash now and high demand from farmers who buy to plant for the rainy season, and demand from processors, the price has gone up again. But you can access it anywhere in the market because dry season harvesting is ongoing in some parts of Niger State,” he said.
From Jigawa, our correspondent said the cost of transportation had pushed prices of grain to N26,000 and above. In Shuwarin market, traders also attributed the cost to transportation.
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