No compensation for farmers affected by army worms

A Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, William Agyapong Quaito, says the ministry has not thought of any compensation for farmers whose crops have been affected by the invasion of army worms.

The Deputy Minister said what the government is doing now is to assess the damage caused. More than 18,000 hectares of maize farms across the country have been destroyed by the fall army worms.

This has compelled some stakeholders to call on the government to put in place adequate compensation package for farmers whose crops have been affected. But speaking on the issue on Onua FM’s Ghana Dadwene on Monday, the Deputy Minister said farmlands destroyed by the worms have reached 54,400 hectares, but it will not cause any food shortage. He said “we have not thought of giving them compensation.

We have not gotten there yet. We are doing assessment now because it came last year but the government did not do anything about it”.

Mr. Quaito admitted that army worms are “destroying food crops and investments by the farmers but it will not affect investments too much to demand compensation”. The Minister who is also the MP for Akim Oda constituency said “we are fighting to get money to get rid of the worms and we have trained the people to fight the worms”. Spread The Deputy Minister said the spraying is done throughout the night so the spread of the worms are coming down.

Mr. Quaito allays the fears that the chemicals being used have side effects. “The chemicals do not have any side effect to the food crops”, he added.