Farmers advised to invest in vegetable cultivation

Mrs. Sheila Assibey-Yeboah, Senior Business Advisor of GhanaVeg, has advised vegetable farmers, especially those in the North, to commit resources and time and invest in vegetable cultivation to improve their economic status.

She said GhanaVeg was ready to support the sector by way of introducing new ways of doing business to produce formidable, healthy and quality vegetables in the country, to be able to keep up with some of the barriers in the vegetable sector.

Mrs Assibey-Yeboah was speaking at a maiden Business Platform Meeting held in Tamale which brought together key players in the vegetable sector, to discuss challenges facing the sector and find ways of addressing those challenges to increase productivity.

Mrs. Assibey-Yeboah who spoke on the topic: “Healthy and Quality Vegetables through new ways of doing Business,” said the vegetable sector needed innovative ways to become competitive and efficient, to meet the export market as well as boost the confidence of the local market to increase consumption of vegetables in the country.

She said some of the activities engaged in by GhanaVeg to revive the industry include Private-Public Dialogue among Sector stakeholders, Grant support, and Agronomy Training of Trainers.

Mr Fouad Lakhal, Agronomist & Vegetable Research Coordinator of Wienco Ghana Ltd, who made a presentation on Bridging the Vegetable Seed Gap for Sustainable Agricultural Development in Ghana, explained that the use of non-certified seeds accounted for low yields.

He advised farmers to avoid the use of saved seeds and purchase hybrid seeds which are profitable.