MoFA, DFID to roll out $20m farm project

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), in collaboration with the UK Department for International Development (DFID), is developing a 35,000-hectare irrigated farm project at Babator in the Bole-Bamboi District of the Northern Region.

The project estimated at about 20 million dollars would be undertaken by a commercial company and some local farmers.

A rice mill, storage facilities, inputs, equipment and technical advice would be provided to the local farmers to increase production in rice, sorghum, maize and soybean.

Mr Tom Philips, Country Manager, Africa Agricultural Development Company (AGDevCO) a United Kingdom-based non-profit agricultural organization, and Consultant for the project announced this at a farmers’ field day at Wenchi.

The field day, attended by about 150 farmers, was on the production of varieties of maize, soybean and sorghum under improved agricultural practices during the rainy season and supplemented with irrigation.

Mr Philips said in 2010, MOFA invited AGDevCO to research and ascertain the best farm site in Ghana for the project and after a six-week research throughout the country, it identified that Babator had the potential for the land and farmers for the project.

He said the project would also provide farmers with appropriate locally and adapted seeds, fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides, access to modern processing facilities and marketing services as well as modern machinery for land preparation, tillage and harvesting.

Mr Philips said a similar project would be undertaken at Navrongo in the Upper East Region based on the success of the Babator project.

Dr Kwabena Obeng-Antwi, a Research Scientist at the Crops Research Institute (CRI), explained that the locally produced maize seed was not the best for commercial maize production and urged the farmers to use other varieties.

He advised them to adopt best farming management practices including proper and regular application of fertilizer.

Source: GNA