A 36-year-old man, Abdul Aziz from Akateng was adjudged the Overall Best Farmer for the Upper Manya Krobo District in the Eastern Region.
The 37th Farmers Day Celebration held at Asesewa was under the theme “Planting for Food and Jobs – Consolidating Food Systems in Ghana”.
Mr. Aziz was presented with a tricycle, knapsack spraying machine, Wellington boots, a radio set, a full piece of wax print, a pruning-saw, weedicides, and a certificate as his prize.
The First Runner-Up went to a 38-year-old Jacob Kwadjo Ahelegbey from Poponya Fantem.
In all, 13 farmers were awarded.
Instructively, the Best District Physically Challenged Farmer award category went to Mawuena Damegbor of BattorKope.
The District Chief Executive, Joe Sam said agriculture contributes about 60 percent of the national workforce and accounts for about 45 percent of gross domestic product and 35 percent of export earnings.
He said the government’s implementation of planting for food and jobs program and other interventions have also resulted in a massive response by farmers as evidenced by the increased output of most stable crops.
According to him, farmers remained a priority in the government’s quest to modernize the agriculture sector to grow the economy.
However, after several years of honoring hard-working farmers, agriculture in the country has not attained the impressive positions it ought to.
Mr. Sam said in view of this, he has invited some investors into the district who are already working with the Ministry of Agriculture to provide the people with at least four tractors to work with in order to maximize their production.
The District Director of Agriculture, Hilary Doe Alagbo said, the department has over the years done a lot of crop production in the district. However, the challenge is on marketing and how to improve upon the quality of their products to make them more competitive in both local and international markets. Mr. Alagbo, therefore, appealed to organizations and corporate bodies to come to their aid to market their activities and products.
In the area of Agric Extension Officer to farmer ratio, Mr. Alagbo said, it stands at one Extension Officer to over three thousand farmers. As a result of this, the department has resorted to the use of mass media to reach out to the farmers with improved technologies.
Mr. Alagbo said, one major challenge facing the crop farmers in the district is climate change. Even though rainfall distribution has been relatively good in the minor season, the major season was near a disaster. This according to him, made it difficult for the farmers to plan well ahead of time. The Agric Director appealed to the government to partner with the private sector for the provision of irrigation schemes to increase food production. He also advised farmers to avoid indiscriminate felling of trees and bush burning especially during the harmattan season.
The MP for the area, Hon. Bismark Tetteh Nyakoh entreated the District Security Committee (DISEC) to ensure regular Police visibility in the district to ensure peace and visibility in the district for the farmers to go about their normal routine peacefully.
The Chairman for the occasion who is also the Chief of Asesewa, Nene Tettey – Ku Gbadadzi said Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s led government is committed to improving the agric sector that is why it is putting in places so many interventions such as youth in agriculture and planting for food and jobs.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
