UGARS receives funds for research

Okyinso (E/R), Dec 9, GNA - The government is to release 97,000 dollars to the University of Ghana Agriculture Research Station at Okumaning, near Kade in the Kwaebibirem District, for further research into improving agricultural production in two areas.

Of the amount, 72,000 dollars would be used to research into how the virus threatening the citrus industry could be overcome. The station has far produced about 20 varieties of citrus, obtain a virus-free citrus planting material.

The remaining 25,000 dollars would go into vegetable research, principally, the breeding of heat-tolerant tomato.

This was made known by Dr. George Oduro Nkansah, a Research Officer of the station.

Dr. Nkansah said the station had introduced strategies for minimizing post-harvest losses and ways of multiplying plantain suckers and is about to introduce three new varieties of cocoyam.

Dr B.N. Nuertey, Acting Deputy Director of the Oil Palm Research Institute(OPRI) at Kusi, also in the Kwaebibirem District, said of the 1.2 million oil palm seedlings being nursed throughout the country under the President's Special Initiatives (PSI) on Oil Palm, 400,000 were being raised in the district with the OPRI nursing 200,000 of them.

The District Chief Executive, Mr Yaw Yiadom-Boakye, appealed to chiefs and individuals owning lands to release them to prospective developers to make the PSI on Oil Palm to achieve success.

He noted that the district was already the leading producer of oil palm and asked farmers to further increase production, taking advantage of the PSI.

Mr Emmanuel K. Wiafe of the Ghana Oil Palm Development Company (GOPDC) at Kwae, also in the district, said during the past eight years the company had processed 840,000 metric tones of palm fruits.

Mr Henry Kwame Kudiabor, Range Supervisor of the Kade District of the Forestry Services Division said 350 hectares had been developed in the district under the National Forest Plantation Programme between 2001 and 2003 with a further 100 hectares slated to be developed next year.

The over 600 workers employed under the programme had been paid a total of over 107 million cedis, he added.