Scientist urges cocoa farmers to embrace cocoa fertilization
Dr Francis Tetteh, President of the Soil Science Society of Ghana (SSSG), has attributed the increase in cocoa production in Ghana over the past six years to the application of cocoa fertilizer by farmers.
He appealed to all cocoa farmers to embrace the concept of fertilization as a means of increasing soil fertility which would lead to high cocoa production in the years to come.
Dr Tetteh made the appeal at a forum on soil fertility and fertilizer application for cocoa farmers in the Eastern Region at Bosuso on Thursday.
He said national outputs of cocoa in Ghana had seen appreciable increases in the last six years due to pragmatic policies put in place by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana in collaboration with the Soil Science Society of Ghana on areas of national control of pest and diseases on all cocoa farms, the increased use of fertilizers on farms and mass cocoa spraying.
However, Dr Tetteh said productivity on farms remained low at 500 kilogram per hectare against potential yield of over 2.5 tons per hectare due to inability of some farmers to embrace the concept.
Dr Kwame Ofori Frimpong, the Deputy Director of Cocoa Research Institute (CRIG) in charge of Soil Science Division, said agriculture remained the largest sector in Ghanaian economy in terms of its contribution with the cocoa sector being the most critical and contributing the larger percentage of agricultural growth.
He therefore urged farmers to see farming as a serious business and commit resources into it and reap the benefits in future.
Dr Ofori- Frimpong, who is also the National Coordinator for Cocoa Hi-Tech Programme, said results of experimental trails on farmers by CRIG indicated that low soil fertility was a major cause of the decline in yields of cocoa farms in Ghana.
He said since the introduction of fertilizer application and the Cocoa Hi-Tech Programme, production had gone up significantly.
Dr Ofori-Frimpong said the all time record of more than one million tons of cocoa production in Ghana this year was as a result of understanding and application of all the methods being introduced to farmers by CRIG and SSSG.
He urged farmers not to rest on their oars, but continue to work hard for the country to regain its lost glory of being the number one producer of cocoa in the world.
Mr Abraham Kwaku Adusei, Eastern Regional Best Cocoa Farmer, commended CRIG and SSSG for organizing the forum and appealed to the government to ensure that the supply of spraying chemicals reaches farmers on time.
Mr Kwaku Afrifa, a member of SSSG, also appealed to farmers to apply the fertilizer in combination with medium shade, judicious pruning, regular weeding and insecticides spraying.
He said if that recommendation was practiced it would be possible for a farmer to realize yields of over 2.0 tons per hectare with the fertilizer contributing as much as 20-40 percent of the increase in yield.
Source: GNA