President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the release of 5,000 Metric Tonnes of maize from the National Strategic Grains Reserve to support the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) at a subsidised rate of N90,000 only per Metric tonne as against the current market price of N170,000.
This was conveyed to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Muhammad Sabo Nanono in a letter from State House with reference No: SH/COS/05/A/26/1, signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari.
The poultry industry, which accounts for about 27% of the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (AGDP) of the economy and provides about 20 million direct and indirect employments, will heave a sigh of relief as this will to a great extent help resolve the challenge of the poultry feeds ravaging the industry.
Alhaji Nanono has assured the poultry farmers of the readiness of the ministry to immediately comply with the presidential directive in order to salvage the huge investment of about Ten Trillion Naira in the industry.