The Benue State Government has undertaken to begin mopping up surplus oranges because of falling prices and non-existent storage facilities by December.
This was disclosed by Governor Hyacinth Alia during an interaction with church elders and traditional rulers in Gboko.
DAILY POST gathered that the farm price of a 100 kg bag of oranges currently sells for N1,000.
Oranges are sold mostly on the farms, as the fast-perishable nature of the fruit makes it ill-advised to bring them to the open market to avoid the risk of loss in the event of delayed sales.
Governor Alia lamented that buyers and middlemen hold farmers to ransom by deliberately delaying the purchase of perishable goods in the mornings, thereby forcing farmers to sell cheaply in the evenings out of panic.
“They keep farmers in the market until evening and force them to sell at giveaway prices. They gain while our farmers lose,” he said.
Governor Alia’s pledge to buy up surplus oranges comes on the heels of the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited (BIPC) test-run of facilities at the Benfruit Orange Juice Factory, recently revitalised by the Benue State Government.
An orange farmer, Aondona Ayua-Jov, who spoke with Daily Post, expressed delight that the Benue State Government was coming to their rescue.
He disclosed that he currently has over a hundred bags of oranges and is still looking for a buyer, even at the N1,000 per bag rate.
