The financial value of agricultural produce imported into the country in the first quarter (Q1) 2021 exceeded the value of exports for the same period by N503 billion.
According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the total trade in agriculture for the period under review was N757.4 billion with the export component being N127.2bn while import was N630.2 billion.
There was however an increase in overall trade compared to the last quarter (Q4) of 2020, when the total trade value in agricultural goods was N588.2bn; with export valued at N55.8bn and import at N532.4bn.
The report showed that major exported agricultural products were Sesame seeds, exported mainly to China (valued at N23.1bn), Japan (N8.3bn) and Turkey (N3bn), followed by good fermented cocoa beans exported to the Netherlands (N9.2bn), Malaysia (N5.5bn) and the United States (N3.2bn).
It listed other major exports to include cashew nuts in shells exported to Vietnam and India worth N5.3bn and N5.1bn respectively.
On the import side, durum wheat (not in seed) worth N66.97bn was brought in from Lithuania, Latvia (N41.51bn) and Canada (N41.31bn) among others.
Similarly, edible mixtures or preparation of animals worth N82.86bn was imported from Denmark, Herrings (Clupea harengus, Clupea pallasii) from Russia (N15.8bn) and the Netherlands (N14bn), the report added.
