The chairman, Farm Produce Dealers Association, Owerri, Imo State, Tahiri Isakah said the production of farm produce has remained high in the main season and that has negatively affected their prices.
According to him, much quantity of the farm produce from mainly the northern part of the country such as Maiduguri, Plateau State are taken to Imo State for sale.
Isakah said that a basket of tomatoes that used to cost N4,000 is now sold at N3,000, while a bag of pepper today costs N4,500 lower than what it used to be.
He said that because of the rainy season, a bag of garden eggs and bag of okra cost N3,500 and N2,500 respectively, far below what they used to be during the dry season.
Meanwhile, our reporter in Abuja who visited some of the markets in the FCT reports that the situation is different as the Eid-el-Fitr Sallah celebration approached. At Mararraba, a suburb of Abuja, a big basket size of tomatoes sells for N4,500 to N5,000, while a basket of pepper costs N5,000.
At Nyanya, the prices are slightly higher as the same basket size goes for N6,000, while pepper goes for N5,000. Some of the traders who spoke to Daily Trust said the increase is due to the approaching Sallah festivities.
Mohammed Abubakar, a tomato seller in Mararraba, said, “In times like this, the prices of basic foodstuff usually go up, and we sellers take this opportunity to make good sale.”
When this reporter visited Gwagwalada, a small dustbin basket size goes for N1,000. Many sellers declined selling in the big basket.
