The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) will start buying maize and paddy rice from small scale farmers on 27th July, 2012 up to 31st October for maize and 30th November for paddy rice.
The Agency will target farmers based in villages, chiefdoms, rural farm blocks and settlements only and not commercial farmers who are well established.
FRA Board Chairperson Guy Robinson has disclosed the development to Qfm news in a statement.
Mr. Robinson says each Farmer shall be allowed to sell once, a maximum of 153 by 50kg bags of maize and 166 by 40 Kg bags of paddy rice.
He says only genuine and bonafide farmers are encouraged to supply maize and paddy rice to the Agency.
The board chairperson adds that those who do not qualify as small scale farmers are firmly forewarned of the ongoing scrutiny that will be undertaken during registration.
He further states that all farmers who wish to deal with the FRA should have a personal Bank account.
He says the Agency shall this year register farmers at buying depots and will also allocate empty grain bags according to the number of bags of maize to be supplied by a farmer in order to reduce production costs incurred by the farmer.
Mr. Robinson has warned that the FRA Board and Management will not tolerate or give room to fraud and other vices that characterised the past crop marketing seasons.
QFM
So now small scale farmers are not allowed to grow their farming coz it seems to be a crime to be a big farmer in PF. Why limit them to 153 bags??? that a drop in the ocean and typical of CNP. Shame.
@ Mimi … we know you a fanatical critic of the PF govnt , but its importants to be well imformed before you comment on a subject. FRA is a buyer of the last resort…………….only buys from poor famers who cant afford to take they produce to sell to millers and other places , big or commercial farmers should find there market…
The problem is that FRA has become more than a buyer of last resort. This is not just a PF thing and started under MMD, but the problem is that for social (and/or vote-buying?) reasons FRA is paying growers considerably more than import parity (+/- $265/ton) while selling to mills and exporters at below export parity (+/- $160/ton). Because FRA only buys from small farmers (which is not necessarily the same as being a “poor farmer” as you say), this has discouraged most commercial growers from producing maize except for on-farm use. It’s also costing the nation a fortune in subsidies that may not be directed at the right people. On top of the FRA price, for example, smallholders also get input support from FISP with little or no coordination between the two programs.
Have all the farmers been paid from last year?
Uh….. no!
Tell the nation when the farmers will be paid after delivering the maize to the FRA. They need to be paid immediately for them to buy farm inputs for the next season.
Please stop exploiting farmers by paying them on time for their hard work.
Lets ensure that security is always their to avoid amakuluku buying maize from scale farmers and sale to FRA
Good time to make money.
why give a farmer inputs worth a hector and refuse to buy the maize produced from that hector since good farmers can go upto 200*50kg bags when using goodseed pureseed zamseed.This is nosense of the highest order.I seek to UPND to go to other provinces so that they can rule with there good agriculture policies.Remember no farmer no food and no future.
# 7 muna, in FRA there are proffessionals and arriving at 153 bags ..alot of issues were looked at including the one u are talking about…..for your imfor a famer produces on avarage 120 x50kg bags per hectar
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