Government temporarily suspends maize purchasing exercise by the Food Reserve Agency

THE maize purchasing exercise by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has temporarily suspended due to high moisture content recorded at 13.96 per cent, Agriculture and Livestock Minister, Bob Sichinga has said.

The FRA was supposed to commence the purchasing of maize on June 10, this year but the 13.96 per cent moisture content is higher than the desired levels of 12.5 per cent, which is necessary to minimise post-harvest storage losses.

Mr Sichinga said in an advert by the Ministry of Agriculture on the commencement of the crop marketing season running from June 10 to September 30, this year that monitoring of the moisture levels by experts would continue until it dropped to the 12.5 per cent threshold.

“The last readings undertaken on June 5 indicate a moisture content ranging from 12.59 percent to 15.87 per cent. The national average at the same date was regrettably 13.96 per cent, higher than the safe threshold. This means therefore that FRA cannot commence buying maize immediately in most parts of the country,” Mr Sichinga said.

The moisture content is highest in Muchinga Province, which recorded a high of 15.87 per cent Luapula had 15.60 per cent, followed by Northern Province at 15.16 per cent. Parts of Eastern Province had 14.25 per cent and 13.90 per cent while Central had 14.10 per cent and Lusaka had 13.65 per cent.

North Western Province had 13.25 per cent with Southern Province having relatively low moisture content, at 12.68 per cent and 12.86 per cent in some parts while the Western Province had 12.59 per cent.

“I encourage all farmers not to sell their maize for lower than the base price of KR65 per 5Okg bag of grade A non-GMO maize. FRA will commence buying as soon as moisture content reaches 12.5 per cent,” he said.

On collateral maize grain amounting 270,000 metric tonnes required to be purchased, Mr Sichinga said an amount of KR676 million equivalent to US$127.6 million would be raised for the exercise aimed at meeting the National Strategic Stock of 500, 000 metric tonnes.

The funds would be raised by a consortium of commercial banks, to meet the need to purchase the 270,000 metric tonnes and any additional grain which the private sector-millers and grain traders would not purchase.

It was estimated that a minimum additional quantity of 250,000 metric tonnes, would be purchased by the FRA to meet the needs in the region and that the Authority would ensure storage bags were delivered in all the locations under the collateral or warehouse manager.

Mr Sichinga said more than 16 million empty grain bags and more than 1, 000 weighing scales had been pre-positioned at district depots throughout the country and this was in addition to other marketing requisites such as grain sieves, twine and black sheets.

“In this regard, I wish to urge and remind our small-scale farmers that the FRA will be buying only white ‘Grade A’ maize. I also wish to emphasise that this year, we do not want our farmers to spend nights at the satellite depots. It is therefore important that our farmers intensify the sorting and cleaning of their grain in readiness for delivery to the FRA satellite depots,” he said.

On the delivery of D-Compound fertiliser to high production districts, Mr Sichinga said the exercise would be flagged-off on June 26, this year and that in this connection, districts had been identified to receive the initial supply of around 40, 000 metric tonnes.

He said the Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) in Kafue had been tasked to produce the entire Farmer Input Support Programme order for D-Compound amounting to 70, 727 metric tonnes.

In this regard, rehabilitation of critical parts of the NCZ plant had been concluded at a cost of KR70.4million and that as a result of the works, production levels had increased by 50% from 100,000 metric tonnes to 150,000 metric tonnes.