.Price of onion drops in Kano
African Development Bank (AfDB) has provided Nigeria with $134 million for the cultivation of essential crops such as rice, maize, cassava and soybeans to enhance food production.
Its president, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, announced this at the weekend following his visit to the Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA) at Bayero University, Kano.
He told newsmen that the bank was willing to assist the most populous black country in cultivating 300,000 hectares of rice and maize, alongside 150,000 hectares of cassava and 50,000 hectares of soybeans for this year’s planting season.
Adesina said: “This March, the AfDB is supporting Nigeria to cultivate 118,000 hectares of heat-tolerant varieties of wheat and another 150,000 hectares of maize.
“We live in an era of climate change, and yet only three per cent of African agriculture is under irrigation. We have to make sure we help our farmers with information that is timely and appropriate.
“We have no alternative but to adapt to climate change, adopt better ways of using water, particularly in the cultivation of dry land crops that are more resilient and tolerant.”
He added that his organisation would offer grants to the CDA and collaborate with it to develop a centre on weather pattern predictions and information collection for farmers to plant more effectively.
This comes as the price of onion dropped by more than 70 per cent in Kano State.
A visit to Gundutse Market in Karfi, Kura Local Council of the state revealed that 100-kilogramme of the commodity sold for between N20,000 and N25,000.
It went for N100,000 and N120,000 last December.
In January this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released a food price index indicating that the average price of one kilogramme of onion bulb rose by 97.38 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
According to the official price of the product increased from N446.44 in January 2023 to N881.20 in the corresponding period.
A trader, Khalid Saminu, told The Guardian that the price drop was not unconnected to harvest season, noting that Karfi farmers and others had impressive harvests.
Despite the drastic reduction, consumers are yet to witness the impact in metropolitan markets as 100 kilogrammes of onion at Yankura, Sabon Gari still sell for between N80,000 and N85,000.
But Saminu explained that it may take time before the price reduction trickles down, considering the cost of transporting the vegetables from Karfi, about 48 kilometres distance from Kano city.
Another dealer, Musa Abubakar, said the slash is seasonal, adding that the development might not last.
Recently, National President of the Onion Farmers Association of Nigeria, Aliyu Maitasamu, said over two million metric tonnes of the crop are produced yearly in the county, with Sokoto State producing 40 per cent of them.
Amid latent potential, he stated that the country is yet to meet its national demand of 2.44 million metric tonnes.
His words: “Based on yearly estimate, the onion produced in Nigeria amounts to more than N700 billion, but about 40 to 50 per cent of the product, worth over N300 billion, are wasted to post-harvest losses.
“This is largely due to inadequate knowledge and skills in onion production, resulting in high post-harvest losses, poor yield and produce quality, among others.”
