MAIZE farmers in the country have called on government to provide some levels of intervention such as inputs subsidy and also ease movement of farmers to their farm so that they can meet the target for this year.
National President of the Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN), Dr. Bello Abubakar, made the call on behalf of the farmers, stating that the restriction of movement has made it difficult for members to go out and get inputs for planting.
He said that if the lockdown continues, there may be shortage of maize and farmers will not be able to meet its target of 22 million metric tonnes for the 2020 season unless the federal government intervenes in maize production across the country.
Abubakar, stated that maize farmers are unable to access their farms due to the lockdown and unavailability of inputs, stressing that due to the lockdown and the suspension of flight into the country, input being imported are held up.
He said that the wet season farming is already here, and that if something is not done to address the situation, farmers will lose their source of livelihood.
The President noted that the lockdown in some parts of the country has also affected dry season maize farming because some farmers who planted in December were not able to access their farms for harvest.
Speaking on the price of maize, he said the effect of COVID-19 took a toll on the prices of maize in the market, that before the pandemic, a bag of maize was between N8,000 and N11,000 in the open market, but now the price has fallen.
Abubakar, however, called on the Federal Government to assist farmers with inputs or any substantial subsidy so that the farmers can get some relief and still be able to meet their target
He also appealed to government to set up a committee that can liaise with the commodity associations to get inputs directly to farmers; this he said was the best way to ensure that genuine farmers get the inputs as the commodity associations have comprehensive data of registered farmers.
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