Farmers Crop twice in one Rainy Season

Bolgatanga, Sept 4, GNA - Some farmers in the Upper East Region have, for the first time, cultivated crops twice in one rainy season following subsidies on farm inputs granted by government.

The farmers, most of who are in the Bawku West District, harvested the early millet which is usually grown in May and harvested by the end of July and replanted maize that would mature in October. The District Chief Executive of the area, Mr. Desmond Bugbilla, said this at a meeting of heads of departments organized by the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council (UERCC) on Thursday at Bolgatanga. He said even though the region earlier this year experienced droughts the low prices of fertilizers and assurances from agricultural experts that there would be well distributed rain this year capable of sustaining a second round of cropping encouraged most farmers in the area to test the idea.

The farmers, who were encouraged to grow large acreages of maize and other leguminous crops, a phenomenon not too common in the area, have expressed joy for the subsidies on fertilizers which pushed them to accept the advice from the experts.

Mr. Bugbilla advocated positive image building for the region and said there were too many negative media reports about the region that are untrue. The meeting was to collate data from stakeholders and find lasting solution to the flood situation in the region.