LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia will export 100,000 tonnes of white maize this year after it produced a surplus of the staple grain during the 2008/09 season, a government official said on Tuesday. Brian Chituwo, Zambia's minister of agriculture, said in a statement the final results of a government crop forecast showed the southern African country recorded a maize surplus of 203,271 tonnes after harvesting 1.9 million tonnes. "The ministry will initially allow 100,000 tonnes of maize to be exported. However, each export permit will only have a maximum quantity of 30 tonnes on the basis if single exit," Chituwo said. He said the decision to export the maize was made after consultations with stakeholders in the agricultural sector, with the export process also to be closely monitored by the agriculture ministry. Zambia's maize output dropped to 1.2 million tonnes in the 2007/2008 season from 1.3 million tonnes in the 2006/07 season after floods ravaged the crop. The supply gap led the government to import about 100,000 tonnes of white maize to plug the deficit. Zambia has managed to turn its maize production around over the past three agricultural seasons, and become a net exporter of maize on the back of good rains and a government policy to provide subsidised fertiliser and seed to peasant farmers. The state run Food Reserve Agency (FRA) said in May it would buy white maize from farmers at 65,000 Zambian kwacha per 50 kg bag this season following the bumper maize crop. The new price would represent an 18 percent increase on last season's purchasing price. | 
