Agric Ministry urges farmers to apply organic manure
Mr Godfred Dwamena, Tano South District Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), has advised vegetable farmers to apply organic manure to sustain nutrients and increase productivity.
He said misapplication of chemical fertilizers on vegetable and other food crops reduced nutrients and poisoned the foodstuffs and vegetables.
Mr Dwamena gave the advice when he addressed over 100 farmers from Mansin, Breme and Ohianimguase at a seminar on the theme; “Climate Change and Sustainable Land Management Practices” at Ohianimguase, a farming community in the Tano South District of the Brong-Ahafo Region, on Thursday.
The Center for Partnership on Rural Improvement Agency (CERPIA), a Non-Governmental Organisation working to promote food security, organised the seminar with support from the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP).
Mr Dwamena noted with concern that many of the stomach related illnesses were as a result of food poisoning because some farmers failed to adhere to restrictions from agric extension officers on application of chemical fertilizers.
He said it was not true that over application of fertilizers on crops would result in increased yields.
Mr Dwamena said food productivity was based on good agriculture management practices such as application of organic manure, ridging, bounding and agro-foresting.
He said though the directorate had 12 agric extension officers instead of the required 32, the officers had been provided with motorbikes to enable them to reach all farmers in the district.
Mr Isaac Adjei-Mensah, Tano District Development Officer in charge of Extension of MOFA, said the environment kept on degrading due to bad farming practices.
He mentioned continuous cropping, over grazing, bush burning and wrong application of pesticides and weedicides in addition to urbanization, industrialization and disposal of toxic wastes as the major contributory factors to climate change in Ghana.
Mr Adjei-Mensah advised farmers against farming along river bodies and adopt rain water harvesting for irrigation.
He entreated the farmers to form associations and ensure that they promoted effective partnership with extension officers to enable them to access ready market and financial assistance.
Mr Johnson Binam, Chief Executive Officer of CERPIA, said the NGO worked to promote sustainable agricultural practices among farmers in the district.
He said it had designed programmes to enable the farmers to restore the degraded land using integrated water and soil management, sustainable livelihood activities and developing access to market opportunities locally.
Mr Binam said CERPIA intended to build and sustain capacities of farmers to enable them to identify innovative strategies, approaches and models in linking trade and livelihoods to sustainable land management.
Source: GNA