New farmers society formed at Adawukwa

Adawukwa (C/R), Aug. 2, GNA-A new agro-business venture, Sugarcane and Vegetables Farmers Co-operative Society has been formed at Adawukwa, near Okyereko, in the Central Region.

The society with initial membership of 107 working in communities situated alongside River Ayensu, has Mr. John Gbenyo of Adawukwa as its interim chairman, with Mr. Victor Mills Dogbey and Mr. Winfred Adzokpe, as secretary and treasurer, respectively.

Announcing this at an emergency executive meeting at Adawukwa, at the weekend, Mr. Gbenyo said the society's target was to revive and sustain the cultivation and production of industrial sugarcane in the country on large scale.

This would definitely help keep members of the society, mostly Akpeteshie distillers, in business all the time to enable them to fend for themselves and their families, and also cater for their children's education.

He said apart from individual sugarcane plantations, the society has plans to acquire a large stretch of land in the area for the establishment of large sugarcane farms.

The collective sugarcane plantation the society intends establishing would be use as a permanent demonstration farm where young sugarcane farmers in the area will acquire skills about the cultivation of new varieties of industrial sugarcane, the interim chairman added. Mr. Gbenyo said that, to achieve these laudable objectives, the society had engaged the services of a crop research expert to secure them a hybrid industrial sugarcane variety for planting. He said the crop research expert had agreed to offer them the required guidelines for planting to ensure higher productivity and better economic returns.

Mr. Gbenyo called for financial support from Government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to cushion the society's moves to obtain better variety of industrial sugarcane to boost the industry. He maintained that besides the production of the local gin (Akpeteshie), it is the desire of the society to feed local pharmaceutical industries with industrial sugar the society will produce.

Mr. Victor Mills Dogbey, secretary for the society, said that the formation of the society was also to attract Junior and Senior High School leavers in the communities into the sugarcane and vegetables plantation business so that they could make a living and lead decent lives. He announced that the society will be formally inaugurated on Wednesday, August 6, and advised members of the society living in various parts of the Gomoa West and Gomoa East Districts to make it a point to participate in programme to ensure its success.