Farmers asked to invest more in agriculture

Mr George Gabrah, Akuapem North District Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), has asked farmers to invest more in agriculture to enable them to earn high incomes.
    
He also asked Ghanaians to go into farming and to disabuse their minds that the economic activity was for the poor in society.           
    
He was speaking at an agricultural inputs fair at Kwamoso in the Akuapem North District.
    
It was organised by the District Directorate of the MOFA in collaboration with the International Centre for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development,
    
The fair was to enable farmers to buy high quality seeds and agro–chemicals at affordable prices to increase agriculture production.
    
Mr Gabrah advised farmers to form associations so that they could get support from financial institutions and other organizations.
    
Mr Kofi Bonney, official of the Plant Protection and Regulatory Service (PPRS), observed that farmers had a strong voice in policy initiative and they should ensure that their grievances were channelled to political leaders.
    
Mr Emmanuel Annan, also of the PPRS, explained that the fair formed part of efforts by the Ghana Agro-Dealer Development (GADD) Project to encourage small-scale farmers in Ghana to increase their use of improved seeds and agricultural inputs to maximize yield.
    
He said under the Project, the agriculture input dealers would be trained to enable them to offer technical advice to farmers who would visit their shops to buy agricultural inputs.
    
Mr Annan said GADD and the Millennium Development Authority (MDA) would establish technological transfer centres where agro-input dealers and farmers could learn new technologies.
    
He said field demonstration plots initiated by the dealers would be used to showcase agriculture products and how they are used.

Source: GNA