New Agric Programme for Upper East

Navrongo (U/E), July 10, GNA - Government has initiated a new agriculture programme for the people of the Upper East Region as part of measures to forestall a likely food insecurity in the region. Under the programme farmers are to enjoy free advisory services from agricultural experts drawn mainly from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the main body charged to handle it.

The Ministry has already prepared the land and rice seeds planted for the maiden programme have so far germinated. Mr Francis Dery, Acting Regional Director of Food and Agriculture, 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.

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. About 60 farmer groups of five members each from Builsa, Kassena-Nankana and Bolgatanga districts are to benefit from the maiden programme.

He said the food insecurity situation was 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 for the people in the region.

Mr Dery indicated that the programme used 500 bags of rice seeds for the start and that 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 set in by November and urged the farmers to contribute their quota to ensure the success of the programme.

He said the government was ready to explore avenues in finding lasting solution to the food situation in the region recalling last year's devastating floods that almost grounded farming activities. Mr Braimah Abdulai Yeji, Assemblyman for the area, commended the government for the programme and said it had always been the dream of farmers in the area to have such support programmes. He said since the overthrow of the Acheampong regime in the 1970s no government had shown such a responsibility to farmers. Mr Yeji 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.