Abstract
The study, based on a survey of wholesalers in the Owerri area of south-eastern Nigeria, analyses the economics of wholesale marketing of onions, and determines the profitability of wholesale marketing operations. Transportation costs accounted for the highest percentage (74%) of total variable costs of marketing. Gross wholesale marketing margin per tonne of onions was 20%, while the net margin was 10%. Wholesalers earned positive net returns of Naira (N) 3873.51 (U.S. $209.4) per tonne from marketing operations. Such earnings were, however, commensurate with marketing services rendered by wholesalers, Major constraints to marketing include inadequate transportation and storage facilities. Policies on improved marketing should, therefore, emphasize the provision of adequate transportation and storage facilities more than the activities of middlemen-wholesalers.
