The Enugu State agricultural development programme (ENADEP) has urged farmers in the state to engage in onion farming to boost its production in the state.
The programme manager, ENADEP, Dr. Ogbonna Onyeisi disclosed this in an interview in Enugu on Friday.
According to him, it was important for onion farmers in the state to increase their onion production so as to reduce high cost and scarcity as well as have enough of the produce in the coming years.
According to him, onions are presently cultivated in the state in Nsukka local government area of the state.
He said that the agency would come up with a plan on getting the data of all the onions farmers in the state.
“We are encouraging farmers to put more effort to cultivate much of the produce in the state.
“This is how tomatoes farmers started and now much tomatoes are being cultivated and harvested in Nsukka.
“In Enugu, cucumber is also being cultivated so, it will not be different from onions.
“I believe in the next few years, farmers will be producing onions in large quantity so as to prevent its scarcity and its high cost in markets,” he said.
According to him the price of onions has gone up drastically as a big bag is sold for N120,000 while a painter goes for between N5,000 and N6,000 respectively in major markets in the state.
Meanwhile, some of the dealers disclosed that the hike in price was caused by the high fares caused by the fuel subsidy removal, bad roads, multiple taxes and insecurity.
At the onion market in Garki, Agbani Road, a dealer, simply known as Ibrahim said that they spend days on the road due to the bad roads from the North to the South East.
According to him, some drivers sleep on the road and this affects our produce. We also face challenges of high cost of diesel which we buy at between N1,300 and N1,500 a liter.
