Jos traders explain ‘sudden’ rise in tomato price

Tomato dealers and traders in Jos market have explained why price of tomato has gone up in the state. Traders said this was the first time in the last 10 years, the price of the product has risen astronomically because of scarcity of naira notes experienced some months back which crippled many businesses in the country.

The market, when visited on Saturday afternoon, looked skeletal with traders and dealers waiting for supply of the products.

Between January and February this year, a basket of tomato was sold as low as N700 due to lack of cash in the hands of people following the introduction of new naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

According to the chairman of Lalong tomato market, located at the Parkingada market, Nasiru Sani, “The major factor responsible for the scarcity and hike in price of the product is the inability of the farmers to get cash for the cultivation of tomato during the farming season. Lack of cash to buy fertilizer and farm inputs had made most farmers to abandon their farms.

Asabe Asiko, a trader in the market, also said the development has affected their daily income.

She said “The product is scarce because during the farming season, there were no naira notes in the hands of farmers to buy fertilizer for the farming. This prevented many farmers from going to the farm and made others to abandon their farms. The effect of the scarcity of naira notes is what we are witnessing today. There is limited transaction in the market. Everything has dried up.

Traders in the market said the price would continue to increase until August, when the price is expected to go down after harvest.