Lovers of yam may have to pay higher for the popular root crop this year in Enugu State, as the price has gone up by 40 per cent.

This is according to a market survey conducted by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Enugu.

NAN report that 100 tubers of yam known in local parlance as “a heap”, which used to be sold for between N25, 000 and N35,000 in 2018, goes for between N45,000 and N70,000 depending on the sizes.

Some wholesalers and retailers told NAN the increase in the price of yams was due to inadequate rainfall at the appropriate time.

They also attributed the increase in the price to high cost transporting the yams from as far as Benue and Kogi states, while a few came from Anambra.

The survey also showed that small tubers that were sold for between N150 and N300 now go for between N300 and N500.

“Yams did not grow well this year because rains did not fall well at the time the yams were supposed to grow.

“And when the rains came, it had already affected the yield,” a wholesaler at Garriki Market, Mike Nwagbo said. Mrs Janet Ugwuanyi, a yam trader, lamented the poor yield and the high price.

“The rains affected yams this year; this is probably why the prices are high. You can see the tubers here.

“These ones are sold between N300 and N500. They are called ‘bubuyaya’ and the ones we bought from Anambra which are the same size sell between N400 and N800.

“You can see that the prices are high but it is not our making,” Ugwuanyi said. Mrs Regina Igwe, a mother of four said she could not afford to buy yams this year like in 2018 because of the high cost.

“I couldn’t buy yams as I used to because of the high cost. I used to buy 30 to 40 tubers that will last long for us and I even used to send to my mum but I can’t buy that much now,” Igwe lamented. (NAN)

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