Fertilizer, agro-inputs warehouse now in Birim North

Sakant Enterprises Limited, dealers in agricultural inputs and farming consultancy, has opened a fertilizer and agro-products warehouse at Panpese in the Birim North District.

The warehouse has 20,000 metric tons capacity, equivalent to holding 240,000 bags of 50 kilogrammes of fertilizer.

Mr Kwaku Amoah Sarfo-Kantanka, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, said the company built such a warehouse in the Birim North District to ensure that farmers got their fertilizer needs right at their farm gates, in order to save them from travelling long distances to buy fertilizer.

He said the company intended to build small and medium size depots at vantage points further into the rural communities, to serve as outlets and reduce the burden farmers go through in purchasing agro-chemicals and products.

Mr Safo-Kantanka said his company has also designed some modalities to give credit facilities to organized groups such as Farmer Based Organisation, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), and other identified bodies recognised by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).

In addition, the company has also employed and trained some staff to educate farmers on the safe use of fertilizers, pesticides and seeds to complement the effort of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture Agents.

He said the company also has plans to buy farm produce, especially maize to minimize post-harvest loses.

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Birim North, Mr Paul Aboagye Dadzie congratulated Sakant for building the warehouse and expressed the hope that farmers would patronize it to increase their harvest for export.

Mr Ben Owusu Addo, a former public servant now in commercial farming, advised the youth, especially the literate to go into farming since it was a lucrative and prosperous business, instead of chasing after non-existing white colour jobs in the cities.