The Lagos State government has commenced with the distribution of maize and sorghum to farm settlements, feed millers and other stakeholders in the livestock industry, a measure to cushion the effects of the covid-19 pandemic and boost agricultural production in the state.
The state’s acting commissioner for agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, who dropped the hint amid the distribution, noted that the injection of these ingredients into the feed mill industry would have a multiplier effect on the input and output of the feed millers, and consequently on food production.
As part of its measures to ameliorate the suffering s of Nigerians during the pandemic, the federal government recently approved the release of 70,000 metric tons of grains from the National Strategic Grains Reserve to be dispersed to vulnerable households across the country.
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In keeping with this effort, the state government has decided to distribute 3,300 tons of maize and 900 tons of sorghum within the animal feed industry of Lagos State.
Olusanya stressed that the allotment of these ingredients to feed millers and farm settlements would lead to a significant reduction in production costs, as well as an increase in quality feeds, thereby improving quality food access for farmers across the state.
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She explained that maize, being a major source of energy in the feed mill industry and accounting for between 60 to 70 percent of the total ingredients used in feed production, usually determines the final price tag on the finished feed.
The acting commissioner remarked that the distribution would help feed millers save time and money spent on searching for quality maize, shorten production times and reduce any wastage of ingredients during production.
