Govt Initiates New Agriculture Programme for Upper East

Navrongo (U/E), July 12, GNA - Government has initiated a new agriculture programme for the people of the Upper East Region as part of measures to pre-empt likely food insecurity in the region. The programme, which for now would be centred on rice production, is already underway at Gbedembilsi a farming community in the Builsa District.

It was initially targeted to cover 1,200 hectares of farmland but was later reduced to 400 hectares following delays in this year's rains. Under the programme, farmers are to enjoy free advisory services from agricultural experts drawn mainly from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, MOFA, the main body charged to man it. The Ministry has already prepared the land and supplied rice seeds on gratis to the selected farmers which have so far germinated. About 60 farmer groups of five members each from Builsa, Kassena-Nankana and Bolgatanga districts are to benefit from the maiden programme.

The Acting Regional Director of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Francis Dery, disclosed this on Thursday when the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Alhassan Samari paid a working visit to the farms to acquaint himself with progress so far made on the new programme. Mr. Dery indicated that the programme used 500 bags of rice seeds valued at about 25,000 Ghana cedis, adding that the selected farmers were only to ensure that the needed care was given to the crops at their early stage because rain-fed rice production needed little attention. He said about 250,000 tons of rice is expected from the farms by December when the season would end which invariably could cater for the rice needs of the people in the region to augment the food situation in the area.

The Regional Minister urged the farmers to, as a matter of urgency, create fire belts around the farm to prevent any fire outbreak when the dry season sets in by November.

He said the food insecurity situation is a global phenomenon which governments everywhere were battling with and that the new programme was part of the government's prudent policy initiatives to ensure that there was sufficient food available in the region. He said government was ready to explore avenues in finding lasting solution to the food situation in the region and recalled last year's devastating floods that almost grounded farming activities and urged the farmers to contribute their part to ensure the success of the programme. The Assemblyman for the area, Mr. Braimah Abdulai Yeji, praised government for the programme and said it had always been the dream of farmers in the area to have such support programmes, adding that since Acheampong's government was overthrown in the 1970s, no government had shown such a responsibility to farmers. He appealed to government to work out modalities to construct an irrigable dam in the Fumbisi valleys to encourage more of the youth in the area to go into farming. GNA HT/REA 12 July 08