Relief as tomatoes price crashes in Lagos, others

The harvest season has caused a glut of tomatoes, which has caused prices to collapse in Lagos and other regions of Nigeria.

Farmers claim that because of the overabundance of tomatoes, prices have significantly decreased, with a 50 kilogramme basket of tomatoes selling for as little as N10,000 to N12,000 now.

In Lagos, the price of a large basket of tomatoes has decreased from N140,000 to N150,000 in May 2024 to between N13,000 and N15,000.

Harvest season, usually from January to March, has been blamed for the price decline.

Mr. Rabiu Zuntu, the chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Tomatoes Growers and Processors Association of Nigeria, encouraged customers to take advantage of the discounted pricing and save as much of the produce as possible.

He noted that the sector experiences significant post-harvest losses due to lack of storage facilities and preservation technologies.

Zuntu explained that consumers can preserve tomatoes through various methods, including blending, boiling, and storing in airtight jars.

He also recommended burying tomatoes underground in a humid atmosphere to maintain their freshness.

“One of the problems we face in the tomato sector is that the period from January, February, and March is that of tomato glut (excess harvest of tomatoes).

Due to a shortage of cold rooms, storage facilities, and other methods to preserve the tomato and other vegetables, this tomato glut typically results in post-harvest losses of about 50%.

We currently only have a small number of operational tomato processing facilities to help lower the yearly post-harvest losses we experience.

"In order to mitigate the impact when the produce becomes more costly later in the year, we typically urge customers to preserve as many tomatoes as possible during this time.

"Households can purchase it at a lower cost during this glut period and hold onto it for when the price increases," Zuntu told NAN.

Lagos State tomato merchants attested to the price reduction and advised consumers to buy more of the item while it is still reasonably priced. A few customers also talked about the difficulties they had keeping tomatoes because of the erratic electrical supply.

Despite the difficulties, a lot of customers are purchasing and preserving tomatoes for later use by taking advantage of the low pricing.