Nigerian agribusiness expert and managing director of the Nigeria Farmers Group, Retson Tedheke, has warned farmers in the country not to cultivate maize and rice.
He disclosed this in a statement on his X handle on Saturday.
Tedheke’s comments come amid the drop in the price of rice and maize, which he attributed to increased imports.
Media Talk Africa in a recent survey found that a bag of 50 kilogrammes of rice stood at N65,000 to 68,000 in the Abuja market, and a bag of maize stood at between N35,000 and N38,000 in the Giwa Market in Kaduna.
Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had last year announced a 150-day import waiver on staple foods, including maize and rice.
The development resulted in lack of incentives and reduced profit margins according to local grain farmers.
But in a reaction to the development, Tedheke urged local farmers to halt grain cultivation until the Nigerian government is serious about food security.
Tedheke, who is a farmer and also the Deputy Director at the directorate of Agro-commodities in the All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2022/2023, said the government’s favourable disposition towards rice and maize imports has been killing local rice millers.
“Dear Nigeria Farmers, Please Don’t Cultivate Maize and Rice until the Government Is Serious about Food Security!
“Let the government import rice and maize. They Have Been Killing Rice Millers, and Now They Can Add Maize and Rice Farmers to That List,” he said in a post on X.
Media Talk Africa reports that in June, headline inflation dropped to 22.22 percent but food inflation rose to 21.97 percent.
Barely a week ago, Aliyu Kwarbai, a farmer, lamented that the rise in the prices of fertilisers threatened the lower food prices.
