The Federal Government has said it has been able to close the four million metric tonnes maize supply gap in Nigeria through the local production of the commodity by indigenous farmers.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development made the above claim at an event on the importance of vitamin A maize organised by HarvestPlus Nigeria in Abuja.
The agric ministry’s Maize Value Chain Coordinator, Adeleke Mufutau, who represented the FMARD, told PUNCH that maize was no longer in short supply in Nigeria.
He said, “I can authoritatively say that the gap between the supply of maize grains and its demand, which was around four million tonnes some three years ago, has been closed by local production.
“And who are the brains behind this? It is the Maize Association of Nigeria, which has a large number of farmers who produce this maize, specifically vitamin A maize.”
On his part, the Country Manager, HarvestPlus, Yusuf Dollah, stated that at the beginning of the 2021 wet season, over 9,000 metric tonnes of vitamin A maize seeds were produced and distributed across the country by over 20 seed companies.
“The vitamin A maize varieties which matures within 80 days of planting to harvest is at the moment being harvested from the various agro regions of Nigeria, indications coming from the field shows that 2021 is indeed a year for the vitamin A maize,” he said.
