Prices of foodstuff crash in Taraba

Prices of foodstuff have crashed in Taraba State, Daily Trust findings revealed.

This followed a bumper harvest recorded in all the 16 local government areas of the state.

So far, crops harvested in the state included maize, rice, yam, Irish potatoes, beans, cassava, melon seed, millet and benniseed.

Findings showed that a 100kg bag of maize sold a few weeks ago at the rate of N60,000 is now sold between N28,000 and N20,000 depending on the locations of the markets.

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Similarly, a 100kg bag of dried cassava, which was earlier sold at the rate of N28,000, is now sold at N14,000.

Prices of yam, millet and rice also crashed across the state, Daily Trust findings further revealed.

Taraba State is witnessing uninterrupted rainfall which farmers said was responsible for the bumper harvest being witnessed across the state.

Daily Trust findings further revealed that middlemen are making bulk purchases of newly harvested crops in markets across the state.

Those interviewed expressed fear that if care was not taken, prices of foodstuff may soon go up again because of activities of middlemen who are making bulk purchases of newly harvested crops in grain markets.

Bello Adamu, a trader at Garba Chede market, told Daily Trust that grain merchants have given their agents millions of naira to purchase grains.

He said in all the grain markets in the state, merchants have built warehouses where they stored grains.

Adamu said merchants made more money than the farmers.

He said grain merchants bought a bag of maize at the rate of N17,000 during the last year’s harvest and sold at N60,000 a few months later.