COVID–19: FG Releases 5,000 MT Of Maize To Support Poultry Farmers

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the release of 5,000 Metric Tonnes of maize from the National Strategic Grains Reserve to support the Poultry Association of Nigeria.

This was contained in a letter with reference number SH/COS/05/A/26/1 conveyed to the Minster of Agriculture and Rural Development, Muhammad Sabo Nanono.

The Minister of Agriculture, in a statement on Sunday said that the support will go a long way to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Poultry industry.

Poultry accounts for about 27 per cent of the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product of the economy and provides about 20 million direct and indirect employments.

The 5,000 metric tonnes of maize, according to the Minister will be sold at a subsidized rate N90,000 per Metric tonne as against the current market price of N170,000.

Nanono assured the poultry farmers of the readiness of the ministry to immediately comply with the presidential directive in order to salvage the huge investment of about N10trn in the industry.

This is coming shortly after the Maize Farmers Association of Nigeria lamented the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on their production, which led to 30 per cent reduction of its 25 million metric tonnes production target for 2020.

According to the MAAN, the reduction will also have impact on poultry farming which consumes about 60 per cent of maize produced annually.

The association had also disclosed its inability to meet up with its annual demand of 18 million metric tonnes.

Recall the Federal government had placed a ban on maize importation, which led to the shortage of maize available to poultry farmers, hence the support of the President to cushion the possible impact on poultry farming.