Maize price drops naturally, farmers call for govt intervention

The price of maize has taken a sharp plunge in recent weeks, dropping from Eighty Thousand Naira to N35,000 per bag as concerns were raised by farmers.

Farmers who spoke to Foodfarmnews expressed surprise at the sudden plum in price saying it was a result of over flooded of the produce in the market as many had gone into maize production in order to harness the price advantage of N80k until the down turn to N35K for a bag.

This fall in price was just a natural demand principle of the more the produce the lesser the price said a farmer who added it was never government intervention that caused the fall in price, but rather what he described as a glut in the market.

A farmer named Keffas Gona, who owns farms in Kaduna and somewhere in Abuja, disclosed that many were driven by the maize price to go into more cultivation coupled with hoarding, and awaiting the price to appreciate above the N80k until the downturn in price.

According to Keffas Gona, " Most of us stored our maize when it was selling at N80K, expecting it would go higher. Unfortunately, everyone had the same idea and now the market is flooded, going just for N35K, and those who held on to their stock are at a serious loss"

Gona emphasized that the market glut was not the result of any government actions or policy, but simply the natural outcome of an oversupplied market with limited buyers.

" We are urging the government to step in and support farmers. There needs to be better storage infrastructure, access to processing facilities, and help finding markets for our produce," Gona said.

As the maize supply overwhelms demand, farmers are left struggling to recoup their investments. The situation has sparked calls for government intervention, not as a cause of the crisis, but as a much-needed supporter of the agricultural sector.