One of the country’s agriculture experts, Leonard Chimwaza, says the newly released farmgate prices are a compensation to farmers given that the 2024/2025 farming season had dry spells and the cost of farm inputs were high.
Chimwaza said this as he was commenting on the Ministry of Agriculture’s communication of the minimum prices for strategic commodities for the 2024/25 season, where maize is at K1, 050 per kilogram (kg), soya beans at K1, 200 per kg and groundnuts at K2, 500 per kg, among others.
“Stakeholders from the Ministry of Trade, security and local government should also make sure that all measures are followed so that famers should not sell their farm produce unnecessarily to ensure food security,” Chimwaza explained.
Chimwaza also requested famers to avoid selling their farm produce to vendors but should consider selling to cooperatives and farm clubs so that they can make profits.
