Kaduna residents lament high prices of onions

From:Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

Kaduna residents have expressed concerns over the skyrocket prices of onions in the state.
The residents said unless something good happens some of them might not be smiling during the forthcoming yultide celebration.
Onion, which belongs to the family Alliaceous, is one of the consumed vegetable crops in Asia and Africa, especially Nigeria.
It is a perishable crop that cannot be stored for long after harvest in an ordinary state.
Onions used in the preparation of popular delicacies and almost every family in the country use it as a major ingredient in their diet.
Some of its numerous health benefits include lowering of cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure levels.
However of recent, price of a bag of onions has shot up by over 200 per cent in many places in kaduna state.
Investigation by Peoples Daily revealed that soaring demands, flooding and poor storage facilties are the main causes of the skyrocketing price of onions in kaduna
In the past month, prices have been on a steady rise as scarcity hits markets across the state.
Households now have to dig deeper into their pockets to buy onions, one of the most commonly consumed vegetables in the state as prices have risen sharply due to a biting shortage.
Prices differ in different regions depending on the availability of onions.
A onions farmers from kudan Local Government Area of the state, Ibrahim Yau said price of onions is usually higher this time of the year, November to December because this is the time when farmers grow this crop.
According to him a bag of onions sold at the rate N18,000 before is now sold for N58,000,”
A dealers at the Baki Dogo market yetrima Biu attributed the scarcity of onions to a lack of storage facilities resulting in the price hike.
“As at last year, a bag of onion was sold for N6,000, at the beginning of this year it was sold at the rate of N25,000 and now a bag is sold at N70,000,” he said.
Similarly a Civil servant Dinah Dauda lamented that a N500 worth of onion would no longer be enough to cook a meal for her family due to the hike in price.