Drought hits farmers in Salaga

Farmers in Salaga in the East Gonja District in the Northern Region are expecting poor harvest next year due to erratic rainfall.

Maize farmers who took advantage of the early rains in May and cultivated large plantations are now regretting.

Farmers who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the crops have reached tussling stage and needed water but due to lack of rains the crop is withering.

A source at the District Office of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) said the erratic rainfall pattern was not peculiar to the area alone but the whole Region.

The source said the rainfall was not poor as being said, "it is expected to pick up in July even though it had dwindled in June".

Figures received from the Meteorological Service Department (MSD) indicated that 124 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in April, and picked up to 170.5 millimetres in May but dwindled to 66.5 millimetres in June.

Yam farmers are also complaining bitterly about the effects of the drought. "We do not know when and even what we will harvest. Under normal circumstance, new yams should have come out either at the end of June or early July but as it is, we are at a loss when we will start to enjoy new yams," they said.

Rice farmers also said they have prepared the land and are waiting for the rains to do the planting.

The people in the area are, therefore, anticipating that with the long spell of drought, there was the possibility that there would be shortage of food next year.

Meanwhile, farmers are complaining about high cost of tractor services and fertilisers on the market.

It costs 70,000 cedis to plough one acre while a bag of fertiliser sells at 105,000 cedis, which the farmers say they are finding it difficult to afford. They have therefore called on the government to do something about the situation.