Farmers against government’s plan to import 43,000 tons of maize in 2012

The Afram Plains Tractor Owners and Farmers Association, has appealed to the Minister for Food and Agriculture to reconsider any decision to import maize without proper consideration of the total maize stock in the country.

Mr Michael Partey, Chairman of the Association, made the appeal on behalf of members at DonkorKrom on Tuesday.

He said the association was concerned about the decision since that could flood the market with maize leading to low prices for the commodity and destroying the efforts of the local farmer.

Mr Partey said many of the farmers in the Afram Plains took loans in various forms to produce and therefore they would need good prices to be able to sell their produce to make up for losses they incurred due to late planting.

He said for the past three years, the country had experienced good harvests and the government and individuals were holding back large quantities of maize unsold and therefore appealed to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) not to import maize from abroad.

The government late 2011 announced plans to import 43,000 tons of maize into the country this year to make up for poor harvest of maize due to inadequate rainfall.

Source: GNA