Rice farmers in Bontanga and Golinga double yields

Farmers who cultivated rice under a new fertilizer application method called Urea Deep Placement (UDP) during the dry season at both the Bontanga and Golinga Irrigation Schemes in the Northern Region recorded between 100 to 350 per cent yield increase.

The farmers told the GNA on Wednesday that the traditional method of applying fertilizer by broadcasting was more expensive and environmentally unfriendly compared to the new method by which the fertilizer is compressed and inserted between four rice plants to enable it absorb the nutrient gradually and directly.

Aside the UDP technology, farmers were also introduced to good land preparation, effective water management and transplanting by the Feed the Future Ghana Agriculture Technology Transfer project at the two irrigation schemes during the dry season.

Speaking at the sidelines of a ceremony to celebrate the increase in yield,  Dalung-Naa Alhaji Adam Amidu, Chief of Dalung, advised rice farmers to adopt the new technology due to its good yields.

The occasion was organized by the chief in Dalung for women UDP applicators and farmers in the area and to encourage other farmers to adopt the technology to complement government’s efforts to ensure food security.

Some farmers the GNA spoke to attested that most rice farmers under the scheme, after comparing the yield of farmer learning centers cultivated under UDP technology and those of the traditional method, were convinced about the improved technologies.

Mr Abu Alhassan, a farmer, observed that due to the positive results, many farmers were cultivating rice under rain fed which was not usually the case.

Source: GNA