GMB set to adjust payments

year, when the Government announced this year’s producer price.
GMB general manager Mr Albert Mandizha on Monday assured farmers that payment adjustments for grain deliveries made between April 1 and May 24 would be made to allow farmers to achieve parity.

Lastweek, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made announced the new producer price of US$285 per tonne for maize and all grains.
“We are calling on all farmers to make the GMB their first choice when delivering grains. This will promote the rapid growth of the country’s Strategic Grain Reserve while allowing farmers to avoid unscrupulous merchants and other social misfits who usually rip them off,” said Mr Mandizha. GMB, he said, was focusing on buying 500 000 tonnes for the Strategic Grain Reserves to boost national food security hence the call on all farmers to sell their grain to the parastatal. Last year GMB had 245 000 tonnes of grain for SGR, a figure the parastatal intends to surpass this year.

He also advised farmers that acceptable moisture content for maize was 12,5 percent or less for safe storage of the grain. Mr Mandizha further revealed that GMB would accept farmers who wanted to swap delivered grain for inputs. “This is optional and it is the farmer who decides whether he likes cash in totality or part cash and part inputs or inputs in totality. The scheme is good in that it allows farmers to make early preparations for next season. We are in May and if farmers start preparations now then it means that they will be able to meet deadlines for early crops,” he said. Grain deliveries for this year’s marketing season started in April and so far the cumulative total of grain delivered is 1 600 tonnes.