Party of National Unity and Progress (PNUP) President Highvie Hamududu says the tradition of announcing selected crop prices by government through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) after the farming season is not right and must be changed.
The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has announced that the 2023 White Maize Purchase price has been set at K280 per 50kg Bag or equivalent to K5, 600 per Metric Tonne and K5.60 per Kilogramme. The price for 2022 was set at K180 per 50kg.
Mr. Hamududu has described this as an ambush on the farmers since farmers will have already produced, adding that there is need for FRA to announce indicative crop prices of their interest before the farming season so that farmers make informed decisions on production beforehand.
He notes that prices are the biggest incentive for any production including farming stating and farmers need cost reflective prices to increase production.
Mr. Hamududu warns that as long as they suppress producer prices in the agriculture sector, government can forget to increase production as farming is not charity but a business.
