Onion, garlic prices may soar as insecurity, others play spoilers

Two years ago the country woke up to an unprecedented increase in the price of onion due to security challenges and other climate change related issues. Our correspondent in Sokoto State, a major producing area, reports that farmers are currently grappling with insecurity and poor access to funds. Malam Umar Dangaladima, who has been into […]

Two years ago the country woke up to an unprecedented increase in the price of onion due to security challenges and other climate change related issues.

Our correspondent in Sokoto State, a major producing area, reports that farmers are currently grappling with insecurity and poor access to funds.

Malam Umar Dangaladima, who has been into onion production for over three decades, lamented that many of his colleagues leased out their farmlands because they could not work on them due to lack of funds.

According to him, onion farmers are not enjoying any support like the Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) despite the fact that onion is a major component of every cooking in households.

He said, “We are not getting any kind of support, and onion production requires money. You need money to clear your land, hire workers to plant your seedlings and for the frequent watering, especially during dry season farming.

“So our major problem is lack of funds. There is no any intervention from the government for onion farmers, and they can’t access bank loans.”

Malam Dangaladima further stated that one required about N500,000 to cultivate a hectare of onion comfortably, and that, “You can make over N500,000 profit.

“But many of us don’t have the facility to store their commodity, and because of that they sell it at the lowest price to minimise waste.

“You know onion business is in phases, there is a time that its price is high and there is a time that it goes down. When the price is high, a bag is sells at N50,000 and above, and there is a time that one can get less than N10,000. In the past we were getting fertiliser at subsidised rates, but now a bag of fertiliser is between N10,000 and N15,000.

“Prices of other inputs, like the chemical we use in killing grasses and insects, have skyrocketed as well, not to talk of high cost of watering, because one needs to spend at least N1,000 every day to water his farm.

“We need support from government, both federal and state, because all these fertilisers they launch every year are not getting to the real farmers. We also need modern storage facilities and access to loans.”

He expressed fear that the country might witness a shortage of the commodity this year due to insecurity.

He said, “Many onion farmers, especially in areas that have been experiencing security challenges, have abandoned their lands and this may cause the price of the commodity to rise because of its shortage in the market.”

Another farmer, Malam Muhammadu Tukur Gidan Salanke, appealed to government to consider onion farmers in its interventions.

He said, “Our people are farming at losses because of lack of storage facilities and high cost of production. We don’t get support from the government.”

Malam Abubakar who has been in farming business for 50 years noted that onion farming was no longer profitable due to the risks involved.

He said, “It is a type of business that requires money, and no matter how you try, you will one day record losses due to lack of storage facilities.”

Similarly, Malam Mu’azu Wurno, the Chairman of Garlic Farmers Association, Sokoto branch, said the high cost of farm inputs was their major problem, and lack of support from government.