Vegetable farmers urged to form groups

Vegetable farmers have been urged to form groups in their communities to help find solution to the challenges they face.

Mr Freeman Madji, the Executive Director of Abibiman Sankofa Cultural Movement (ASCUM), said the formation of groups would enhance productivity.

Mr Freeman was addressing about 180 members of ASCUM from the Birim Central Municipality and the Birim South District to discuss how to get market for their produce among other issues.

ASCUM has more than 1,250 members engaging in vegetable farming in six districts of the Eastern Region with 70 per cent being women. It uses traditional music to promote agriculture.

Mr Freeman said farmers had now seen the advantage and potential of their groupings to help market their produce and gain more control over market prices.

He said ASCUM would soon establish a training centre for those who wished to get into vegetable farming.

Mr Freeman said strengthening farmers’ groups in urban vegetable production systems was one of the ways of to solve the Movement’s marketing problems.

He urged members of the group who owned cocoa farms to properly ferment the cocoa to avert cheating by cocoa purchasing clerks.

Mr Freeman said the Government was offering free supply of bags of fertilizer and hybrid seedlings aimed at improving cocoa yield to help farmers enhance their income.

He advised them to prone their cocoa trees and co-operate with the spraying gangs to ensure proper application of insecticides.