The Federal Government revealed that Nigeria’s annual onion production is as much as 2 million metric tonnes.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Muhammad Abubakar, on Wednesday, at the 4th Regional Onion Annual Conference and General Meeting holding in Kano, organised by Regional Observatory on Onions for West and Central Africa, in collaboration with National Onion Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NOPPMAN).
He also added that Nigeria is one of the largest producers of the cash crop globally.
What the Minister said
“One of the commonly consumed vegetable crops in Nigeria is onion.
“In fact, Nigeria is among the largest producers of onions in the world with over two million tonnes produced annually,” he said.
He also revealed that the crop is grown mostly in Kano, Sokoto, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno, Plateau and Kebbi States, but cited challenges including a shortfall in meeting national demand, especially during the wet season.
The National President, NOPPMAN, Aliyu Isah-Maitasamu, said that the conference was meant to provide them with the opportunity to review their activities after the COVID-19 pandemic adding that Nigeria required 2.5 million metric tonnes of onions annually.
In case you missed it
Recall Nairametrics reported in September that the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN) revealed that Nigeria had agriculture exports of N127 billion in Q1 2021, adding that Sesame topped the list of exported agriculture commodities at N41.9 billion.
It added that Sesame could contribute $1.5 billion to Nigeria’s agriculture exports if maximized and also called for the support of the state government and collaboration of the private and organised sectors with FACAN in boosting agriculture exports in Nigeria.
