Maize Stakeholders, FAO disagree

Group Picture at the 2017 Maize Day held in Abuja.

·         *Say no to aflasave

Against the United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recent report on low maize production in the country, the Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN) has punctured  this position, argued that it was a deliberate act to under rate the country’s performance position in the world rating.

This MAAN’s position was giving back up to the paper presented by Prof. Dele Fakorede from Obafemi Awolowo University who said his many years of working experience as maize researcher coupled many others and international partners’ contribution to improved maize technology in the country would have amounted to a waste of time if Nigeria’s yield per a hectare still remains at the level of 1.5-2 tons since all these years.  

The MAAN President, Pastor Tunji Adenola, during the 2017 Maize Day, held in Abuja disclosed with journalists that the country was presently producing 12million tons of maize, against the 14million annual demand, pointed that the shortfall of 2million tons is what his association is working assiduously to meet at very shortest time.

He said that the country has gone far beyond the 10.8 million tons quoted in the FAO statistic for Nigeria, adding that the association is currently targeting 20million tons of maize by 2020, which he said is achievable if the favorable environment is created by the Federal Government while he chided the maize importation describing it as very retrogressive to agricultural development.  

Pastor Adenola said the nation is currently at a cross road on the issue of inadequate maize production, resulting in excessive high price and regular importation of this essential raw crop critical for food, animal feeds and industry uses across the nation thereby condemned import in the mist of excess produced by farmers across the country waiting to be mopped by the government.

Pastor Adenola stated that the association’s plan to produce 20million tons of maize is achievable using latest technologies that are already on ground by farmers for increased yield, adding that Nigeria has all it takes to produce enough for local consumption and export pointing that importation would hinder the economy diversification of the FG using agriculture.  

He further stressed further that the association is not interested in the use of aflasafe or the purchase of the product, stating that “the product does not increase our yield, neither protect our produce. Our produce are sun-dried and do not invite fungi”

In the same vein, Professor Dele Fakorede, a researcher and a lecture at the university Ife said that maize’s yield per hectare in Nigeria has surpassed the current FAO reports when all efforts of researchers from different mandate Institutes and international partners are put together for improve technologies since over many years thereby puncturing the yield of 1 –to 1.5 tons per hectare as a deliberate act to under estimate the performance and productivity of stakeholders in Nigeria.

Prof. Fakorede pointed that a lot of interventions has gone into maize improved technology that would have made the productivity not to be stagnant over many years as stated by FAO, but he acknowledged the need for more enlightenment for farmers about available varieties for higher yield for the crop. He stressed that presently the yield per hectare from farmers’ farms was 4 tons without best agronomics practice as against 8 to 10 tons in a situation when all necessary inputs are applied.

 Engineer Johnson Oladimeji, chairman Ondo State MAAN said that for our productivity to increase in the country, more awareness needs to be made as regards farmers using the best available technologies stressed that awareness for farmers to key into the use of improved technology to boost the production of maize was very imperative to productivity.