Accra is losing its farmlands
Mr Michael Borboryoe Nartey, overall Best 2016 Farmer for the Ningo-Prampram District, says the Greater Accra Region would in some few years lose all its farmlands.
Mr Nartey, who had been farming for the past 32 years, said the rate at which estate developers were acquiring farmlands in the Region was alarming.
He therefore pleaded with landowners, to preserve parcels of lands for farming activities.
He said the situation could be salvaged if government lands are made available for farming instead of housing projects.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at the Old Ningo in the Ningo-Prampram District, he called for the provision of more irrigation dams to attract the youth into farming.
He explained that it was difficult to engage in farming without the availability of water in the lean season as most farmers depended on the rain which had not been reliable lately.
The Ningo-Prampram District 2016 Best Farmer also expressed unhappiness about some of the items presented to award winners.
He questioned what a fisherman would do with a sprayer or cutlass and therefore advised organizers of the programme to consult stakeholders and present prizes relevant to the winner’s vocation.
Fifty-nine years old Mr Nartey cultivated maize, rice, vegetable, water melon, and poultry farming.
Mr Nartey, who was the best farmer for the then Dangme West District in 2009, also reared cattle, sheep, and goats as well as engaged in aquaculture business.
Mr Fred Kwame Boadi, Ningo-Prampram District Agric Director said 2,428 bags of fertilizers were distributed and sold to farmers from May this year.
Mr Boadi said an estimated land of 4,133.9 hectres of major crops had been cultivated in the District.
The District, he added, also had 14,259 cattle, 12,154 goats and 4,315 sheep.
Over the period, the agriculture directorate embarked on a comprehensive anti-rabies programme which saw the vaccination of 638 animals comprising of 542 dogs and 96 cats.
Alhaji Sa-Rhack Nartey, Ningo-Prampram District Chief Executive, also enumerate government’s interventions for the agriculture sector and urged farmers in the district to take advantage of them to improve upon their yields.
Source: GNA