Farmers express fears over mass cocoa spraying

MORE than 200 cocoa farmers at Aburokyire, a farming village near Sankore in the Asunafo District of the Brong Ahafo Region, have expressed disappointment in the ongoing mass cocoa spraying exercise.

A spokesperson for the farmers, Madam Abena Gyamfuaah alias Abena Abuaah, who expressed the disappointment at a farmers forum at Aburokyire, said their cocoa pods are being destroyed by the blackpod disease.

She alleged that last year, there was no spraying of their farms during the exercise.

She said this year also there is no sign of the exercise reaching them since there is no spraying gang in the area, and their farms continued to be under severe attack by the black-pod disease.

According to her, since the start of the second phase of this year’s mass spraying programme a delegation including herself was sent to Accra by the farmers to see the National Co-ordinator of the programme, Mr E. K. Gyasi to solicit his assistance in the formation of a spraying gang in the village.

Madam Gyamfuaah further alleged that a letter was given to them to be given to the district co-ordinator at Goaso, directing him to form a gang at Aburokyire for the farmers, but no action has been taken to remedy the situation to minimise the farmers worries.

Madam Gyamfuaah said when the yielding trees of cocoa started bearing fresh fruits almost every cocoa pod is found heavily attacked by the disease.

She lamented over the heavy loss they are incurring as a result and said the spraying gang expected to be formed in the village to undertake the exercise could not be formed by the authorities and could not understand why this has taken so long without any attempt.

Madam Gyamfuaah said following the disappointment of the farmers, they are seriously contemplating a mass cutting down of the cocoa trees to give way to the cultivation of other cash crops which will enable them to meet their financial commitments.

She added that the continued attack by the blackpod disease will render their efforts to produce cocoa useless and the earlier they depart from cocoa farming activities the better for them.