Over 5,000 cocoa farmers receive fertilizers

Five thousand eight hundred and sixteen cocoa farmers in five districts have been given fertilizers free of charge to help improve yields on their cocoa farms.

The districts are Dormaa Central, Jaman South, Jaman North, Dormaa East and Dormaa West and parts of Berekum.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency(GNA) in Dormaa – Ahenkro, Mr. David Afriyie Gyebi, Dormaa Municipal Cocoa Officer, said out of the number 2, 475 cocoa farmers had been supplied with more than 70,000 bags of granular fertilizers, whilst 3, 341 farmers had received 25, 740 litres of liquid fertilizer – Litovit.

“Although 80 per cent to 85 per cent of farmers have been covered we are still expecting more farmers,” he stated.

Some of the granular fertilizers given to the farmers are Asase Wura, Cocoa Master, Cocoa Feed, Elite.

Mr. Afriyie Gyebi debunked the allegations that farmers were supplied with fertilizers on the bases of their political affiliation, saying, “These allegations are completely false, untrue, and there are no forms of inducement to influence supply of fertilizers to farmers as being peddled.”

“It’s the corruption in the system that has created all such allegations to undermine our efforts and responsibility to promote the interest of cocoa farmers.

“We do not collect anyone’s party identity card, what we collect is your Voter Identity Card and the farmer’s pass book before the fertilizers are given out. These are the two things we only collect..,” he said.

He elucidated his outfit’s policy to ensure that best farm practices were given to farmers to maximize profits and improve their livelihoods.

The Municipal Cocoa Officer, however, appealed to the government to provide adequate Global Positioning System (GPS), an electronic device used in measuring farm size, which is in short supply, to enhance the performance of their work.