Cotton farmers' calls on government to boost crop production

Tamale, Aug. 15, GNA- Alhaji Ibrahim Abudulai Mobila, President of the Private Cotton Farmers Association of Ghana at the weekend, appealed to the government to revamp cotton production to meet the demand of the local textile companies.

He said the farmers needed farming implements and inputs such as tractors, fertilizer and pesticides to be able to stay in production to offer employment to the youth.

Alhaji Mobila who made the appeal in Tamale at a press conference urged the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), to rejuvenate the textile and cotton industry in fulfilment of its promised while in opposition.

He lauded government decision to offer the manufacturing of school uniforms to indigenous textile industry. The president said cotton was the only cash crop that grew very with little rain or in adverse conditions like drought. Alhaji Mobila said it was a cash crop for rural farmers in the three northern regions.

He said between 1992-1993 the previous NDC government decided to involve the private sector to participate in the production of cotton, which raised the national production capacity from 6000 metric tons lint to 21,000 metric tons from 1998-2000.

Alhaji Mobila said the country had the potential to produce cotton for export if government gave farmers the push and generate employment, reduce poverty and improve the living standards of rural folks. He noted that Burkina Faso is a model of how cotton has been a major export crop and foreign exchange earner, adding that once Northern Ghana shares similar geographical features, the crop could do better in the country. "We have done it in the past and why can't we do it again," he asked?