YOLA – Prices of tomatoes and pepper have risen in Yola, a survey of the market conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday revealed.
Tomatoes that sold for N3,000 per basket last week now goes for N8,000 at the Yola Perishables Market.
Pepper, which sold for N500 a bag last week, now sells for N3,000.
Alhaji Adamu Dan-Wanzam, the Adamawa State Chairman of Dry Season Farmers, attributed the hike in prices of the commodities to shortage in supply and “limited harvest.
“The annual production of the commodities in the state is limited. We now travel as far as Sokoto and Katsina States to buy the commodities.”
He added that the increase in prices was also due to the high demand by customers especially from neighbouring states.
He stressed that a bag of pepper which was sold for N500 a week ago had increased to N3,000 while a basket of tomatoes sold for between N1,300 and N3,000 now goes for between N7,500 and N8,000.
Some customers and food vendors expressed concern over the development.
Mrs Precious John, a food vendor at Jambutu Central Motor Park, bemoaned the high prices, saying that the situation was negatively affecting her business.
NAN observed that some of the food vendors had resorted to using dried tomatoes and pepper due to the high cost of the fresh ones. (NAN)
