Yam price drops in Kwara as commodity flood markets

The price of yam has dropped considerably across various markets in Kwara State, Daily Trust has observed.

The development, it was gathered, was due to the harvest season of the commodity by farmers across the state.

• Mpape demolition to continue till December
• PODCAST: Should citizens take up arms to protect themselves?

To this end, many farmers have flooded various markets in the state with their harvest of the produce leading to about 40 per cent drop in the prices according to a market survey conducted by our reporter.

A farmer, Amos Azeez, from Kaiama, who brought his produce to Ganmo Market to sell, said his tubers of yam did well this year because of the fertility of the land.

“You can see that the tubers from Kaiama performed better than those from other part of Kwara,” he said.

A yam dealer, Mrs Omolola Yusuf, said that the prices of tubers of yam were good for now since the tubers were still being harvested.

Mrs Grace Agboluaje, a buyer, expressed delight at the sight of the new yam, noting that the development has forced down the price of yams in the markets.

“Since coming of the new yams into the market, the prices of old yam tubers have gone down. Old yams, which sold at N800, now sell between N500 and N600 while the new yams are sold between N300 and N600, depending on the size,” she said.

She further said yam is more affordable now that the rainy season has brought in much fresh food, an indication that farmers experienced bumper harvests in spite of herders’ infractions on farm land.

Also speaking, Zainab Ibrahim, another yam seller, said that six tubers of yam that previously cost N3,000 now sells for N1,200 while the price of 60 tubers of yam had dropped to 18,000 from N30,000.

Ibrahim said that the price of yam would further drop as the harvest period lasted.

She however, observed that exportation of yams would limit the drop in the price of yam this harvest season.

A yam seller at Ipata Market, Jumoke Aduroja, said that five big tubers of yam previously sold for N4,000 now cost N2,500.

Jumoke added that five small tubers which cost N2,200 before harvest  now sell for N800.

Similarly, at Mandate market, five big tubers of yam now cost N3,000 as against N4,500 before the harvest.

A food seller at the market, Tawa Olorunoje, attributed the fall in the prices of yam to the ongoing harvest of farm produce.

A farmer, Fatahi Adebayo, identified high cost of farm inputs and transportation occasioned by bad roads as factors inducing price spikes.