By Stephen Nuwagira
Maize growers in Ibanda district can now afford a smile following an increase in the price of the grains over the past three weeks.
The farm-gate price of maize ranges from sh650-700 per kilogramme in Ibanda town and Kyeikucu in Kagongo Division, up from sh550 at the end of February. Maize costs sh500 per kilo in Rushango Town Council, Ibanda South County compared to sh400 previously.
Presently, produce stockists in Ibanda town retail the grains at around sh850 a kilo.
Another cereal, millet, rose to sh1,700 per kilo of unsorted millet, increasing from sh1,500 mid-February. Sorted millet costs sh3,000 per kilogramme, up from sh2,700 over the same period.
Gerald Mubangizi, a produce dealer in Kyeikucu, attributed the increase in the price of maize to demand from Kampala as well as Rwandan and Kenyan buyers.
Beans, cassava down
However, the prices of beans dropped over the reporting period, with mix beans at sh1,150 per kilogramme compared to sh1,500 mid-last month.
That of Nambale beans dropped from sh3,000 per kilo to sh2,000, yellow and green beans now go for sh2,300 (lower than sh3,000 last month), and big white beans cost sh2,800 compared to sh3,500 over the reporting pride.
Godfrey Begumisa, the chairperson of the Ibanda Produce Dealers Association, attributes the drop to inflows of low-cost produce from Tanzania. The trader added that the beans from Tanzania were also of good quality compared to locally-produced ones.
Meanwhile, cassava goes at sh1,000 a kilo, down from sh1,500 over the reporting period and groundnuts go for sh6,000 in Ibanda town and sh7,000 in Rushango town council. Traders are projecting the price of ground nuts to increase due to low supply on back of a bad crop last season.
