NAN check at Perishable Items Market, Damaturu in Yobe, revealed that the prices have dropped by about 50 per cent.

It also revealed that a big basket of tomatoes sold at N120,000 between April and May now costs N40,000, while a small basket previously sold at N75,000 is now going for N18,000.

A bag of pepper sold at N170,000 in the same period now costs N82,000, while a bag of pepper goes for N70,000 as against N75,000 sold in July.

Similarly, a bag of Okro which was sold at N50,000 within the period under review, now goes for N25,000.

However, prices of onions have increased as a bag of the item which cost between N28,000 and N30,000 three to four months ago, now rose to N50,000.

The market’s Chairman, Alhaji Muazu Abbas, attributed the drop to the arrival of new items in the market.

However, the price of yam has skyrocketed at Bayan Tasha Market in the metropolis.

NAN check revealed that two small tubers of yam sold at N1,500 in 2023 now cost N4,000, while three big tubers that went for N3,500 within the period now go for N15,000.

In an interview with the Chairman, of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Yobe Chapter, Alhaji Usman Ngari, expressed concern over the high cost of establishing food crop storage facilities.

“Storage facilities preserve crops and increase profit, especially in the cultivation of perishable items.

“Unfortunately, establishing such factories is capital intensive and most of us do not have that kind of money,” he said.

Meanwhile, In Borno, the prices of perishable goods are the same as Yobe, but the traders said they are still looking forward to more fall in prices in a few months when farmers will start harvesting tomatoes and other perishables in the state.

Isa Mohammed, a dealer in Maiduguri vegetable market, said; “The supplies we are getting now are from Kaduna and Kano,” 

A grain dealer, Mustapha Usman, revealed the prices of grains produced in Borno like local rice, beans, maize, and millet have continued to remain high and could only come down when harvest commenced in October.

Similarly in Adamawa, while there was a fall in prices of perishables due to harvest, prices of grains has continued to remain high.

The Chairman of the Adamawa Chapter of the Nigeria Small Scale Industrialists, Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed, noted that a bag of 100kg of maize that used to sell for N60,000 last year by this time is now N90,000.