Soaring tomatoes’ prices to continue beyond next month

The soaring prices of tomatoes hovering between N90, 000 and N100, 000 per medium basket may not fall drastically after August, according to experts in the industry.
The prices of tomatoes have significantly increased in major markets across Lagos State.

Usually, tomato prices start declining in August every year during the start of the harvest, after experiencing a seasonal price rise in June-July.

According to industry watchers, the drop in prices will, however, start by August ending till it falls to about N3,000 to N7, 000 per 50kg basket in December and continue to March. But this prediction is based more on the weather forecast. Farmers and watchers have highlighted the ravaging Tuta Absoluta, popularly known as Tomato Ebola; fuel subsidy removal and its effect on transportation; and the rainy season as major reasons behind the scarcity of the commodity and its sudden disappearance from markets.

Speaking with The Nation, an adjunct Professor of Agribusiness at the Lagos Business, Jide Adedeji, explained though it is the trend for tomato prices to start dropping by August ending till it falls in March, this year’s situation would take a little longer as farmers were not able to get any support from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to procure seeds to plan in time.

According to him, tomato production had become very susceptible to the vulnerability of weather causing production levels across the country.

Initially, he explained that the prices were very low due to a glut of supply at the beginning of the season, but a reduction in production led to the recent price rise.

Farmers in the Southwest expect that in August, there would be many sunshine days after the heavy rains of June and July, so tomatoes in the field would start ripening and would be available abundantly at the end of August.

Speaking with The Nation, a former head, Lagos Fadama apex body Abiodun Oyelekan, said, Tomatoes grown in the Southwest will be available for sale in the market by August ending and this will start reducing the prices significantly. He however explained it will depend of the type of seeds planted by the farmers.

He said: “Having started the nursery in April, May, we started transplanting by the end May, June. Hopefully this July they will start fruitfully. The price should slightly drop. However the prices of hybrid seedlings are very expensive. For anybody planting hybrid tomatoes, the price is high. Not every farmer can afford it. This, notwithstanding, the price should drop at the end of August.”

Every year due to climate change, the prices of tomatoes go up astronomically around May to August.

Crop Protection Specialist, Prof Daniel Gwary confirmed that the prices of tomatoes have gone up because it is off-season. Most farmers in Nigeria still do seasonal farming and that is contributing greatly to scarcity of farm produce particularly in their off-seasons.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) entitled: “Selected Food Price Watch” for May 2023, the average price of 1kg of tomato witnessed a year-on-year increase of 17.68per cent, rising from N423.48 in May 2022 to N498.34 in May 2023. Edo State recorded the highest average price for 1kg of tomato at N957.95, while Kogi State had the lowest at N215.43.