Upper West seed producers aim to bolster quality production
Mr. Dangana Mahama, Babile Agricultural Station Manager, has advised seed producers to produce quality, high yielding and certified seeds for framers to boost crop yield and ensure food security.
They should maintain the quality of seeds through proper agronomic practices and storage at the appropriate temperature.
He reminded them that “seed quality depends upon the physical condition that the mother plant is exposed to during growth stages, processing and storage”.
“Temperature, nutrients and other environmental factors also affect seed development and influence seed quality.”
Mr. Dangana was speaking during a seed quality and certification training programme held in Wa.
The supervision and certification of seeds by the Plant Protection and Regulatory Service, he said was “to establish and maintain reasonable standard of seed condition and quality”.
He encouraged farmers to cultivate improved seed varieties, telling them that “good varieties have qualities including drought tolerant, pest tolerant and high yielding, so if farmers pick seed from any source and grow it will not yield the appropriate results and will affect food production”.
Some participants, who spoke with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), expressed the conviction that the knowledge and skills acquired would help to improve their work.
Mr. Martin Bondiyiri, a seed producer at Nadowli-Kaleo District said: “last year, I realized I did not follow the appropriate agronomic practices but this training has revealed to me what I can do to improve it”.
The lack of mechanization services such as planters and combine harvesters, he noted, remained a major challenge to production.
Another seed grower from the Sissala East Municipality, Mr Humphrey Salifu Kanton, said the training had enhanced his knowledge in the production of quality and certified seeds for farmers.
The workshop was organized by the Regional branch of the Seed Producers Association of Ghana, (SEEPAG) together with the Wa Office of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research–Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR – SARI).
The theme was “Building knowledge of SEEDPAG members to produce certified drought resistant maize and soybean seed varieties”.
About 50 seed producers from the Sissala East and Wa Municipalities, Nandom, Nadowli/Kaleo, Wa east and Sissala West Districts attended and the funding was provided the Skills Development Fund (SDF).
Source: GNA