Prices of tomatoes have dropped by 58 percent in Lagos for the first time this year, bringing respite to households and reducing pressure on them.
BusinessDay surveyed markets across Lagos and found that a big basket of tomatoes currently sells for N50,000 as against an average of N120,000 some months ago in Mile 12 Market. A small basket of tomatoes now costs N6,500 against N13,000 in the period under review.
“When the rains begin to subside, prices of tomatoes will decline.
Tomatoes do not do well during the rainy season,” Sani Danladi, national chairman of the Association of Tomato Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, said in an earlier interview.
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For pepper, a small basket of habanero pepper currently sells for an average of N13,000 as against N35,000 at the peak of the price surge in May-June, indicating a 68 percent decline in the period.
The July/August rain break has allowed for the proper germination of tomatoes in the north, its major growing region, farmers say.
Also, efforts by the federal government to tackle the pest invasion of Tuta absoluta on tomato farms have helped in taming the prices of the vegetables.
At the peak of the rainy season which led to the unprecedented price increase of the vegetables, Nigerians alternated with beets, cucumbers and carrots for their stews.
Even the popular jollof rice was affected. An SB Morgan Jollof Rice Index revealed that the average cost of cooking a pot of jollof rice increased by 19.6 percent from N16,955 to N20,274, between March and June 2024.
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