REPORTER: OBY ARINZE
As Christmas draws closer, the price of rice has dropped across major markets in Anambra State, bringing relief to both traders and consumers.
Traders said the price drop has increased sales, as more families can now afford to buy rice for the festive season.
They noted that business is better this year than last year, when high prices forced many people to buy in very small quantities.
A rice dealer in Onitsha, Mr. Ugo Abba, said the reduction is due to increase in local production.
He explained that by this time last year, high-grade rice was sold for between eighty and one hundred thousand naira per bag, but this year it sells for between sixty-five and seventy thousand naira.
He added that long-grain rice from Otukpo in Benue State, which sold for between eighty and eighty-five thousand naira last year, now goes for between fifty-eight and sixty thousand naira per bag.
Another trader at Ose Market in Onitsha, Mrs. Chizoba Anyigor, said a painter of Nzam rice now sells for between two thousand five hundred and two thousand eight hundred naira, compared to last year, which sold for seven thousand five hundred naira or more.
She explained that because of the high cost last year, many buyers could only afford one painter, but this year most customers buy half bags of twenty-five kilograms or full bags of fifty kilograms.
Mrs. Anyigor added that people gifting rice during Christmas last year bought about ten kilograms, but this year they are buying twenty-five or even fifty kilograms.
She also noted that a bag of Gombe rice currently sells for forty-five and fifty thousand naira, which she described as fair for both traders and buyers.
Traders for their part, said improved supply, increased farming activities and better access to fertiliser were responsible for the drop in prices.
At the Ose Market, Radio Nigeria observed that people were also making brisk businesses
from de-stoning, re-bagging and loading of rice in the market.
A Consumer, Mrs Favour Igwebuike sighted shopping for the season, said the reduction in prices was a welcomed development, describing it as timely relief during the festive season.
She also noted that if transportation fare would be regulated, the prices of food items will drop more.
Prices of other food items such as tomatoes, pepper, beans, onions carrot and cabbage have also dropped across markets in the state.
