President says government has achieved successes in agric

Tamale, Dec. 4, GNA - President John Atta Mills on Friday said the government had achieved success in agriculture as shown in bumper harvest of crops.

He said the introduction of block farms, subsidizing fertilizer, provision of tractors and combined harvest were some of the government's interventions that had given impetus to agriculture during the 2009 farming season. President Mills was addressing the 25th National Farmers' Day Celebration in Tamale. He said the government was prepared to invest in agriculture to increase production despite the rising cost of farm implements on the international market.

The President said farmers should remain calm while the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) completes its restructuring to enable it to fully deliver on to its core business of supporting farmers. He said plans were underway to increase fish production. President Mills said the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) should add introduce products to the daily meals of pupils to increase the nutrition content of their meals. The Minister of Food and Agriculture Mr. Kwasi Ahwoi, said the government was introducing long and medium term plans to usher the country into mechanized agriculture to be able to produce for local consumption and for and export.

He said agricultural mechanization centres were being set up in parts of the country and rehabilitation of storage facilities were also on course to buy farm produce for storage. Mr. Ahwoi said 31 out of 53 combined harvesters had been distributed to farmers particularly those in the northern part of the country and more tractors are expected in the country next year. Mr. Steven Sumani Nayina, Northern Regional Minister, urged potential investors to take advantage of the natural and human resources available in the region to invest in the area. 04 Dec 09