Agricultural Sector Receives Boost Under Present Government - Bolga MCE

Bolgatanga, Dec. 7, GNA - The country's agricultural sector has witnessed an unprecedented boost since the present government assumed office six years ago, Mr. Isaac Nsoh Amoah, Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) has asserted.

In a speech at the Municipal Farmers Day Celebration at Yorogo near Bongo, the MCE recounted various agricultural schemes and interventions so far undertaken in the Municipality for the benefit of the area's large farming population.

He cited a 1.2 billion cedi credit facility disbursed to 3,900 farmers in the Municipality, 226.5 million cedis given out as loans to 70 beneficiaries and another facility of 162 million cedis loaned to nine groups to enable them to acquire guinea fowl rearing equipment. The MCE further stated that under the Livestock Development Project, 486 million cedis had been given out as loans to assist 12 groups who are into livestock rearing, marking and processing.

He added that 935 farmers, 258 of them women, had also received training on improved farming technology under the Agricultural Services Sub-Sector Investment Programme, while 808 farmers in the area had seen their productivity increase by more than 100 per cent due to the adoption of improved soil fertility methods.

Mr. Amoah indicated that the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly had procured three new tractors and accessories to assist farmers prepare their farmlands early and at a subsidised cost. He said under the Youth in Employment and Youth in Agriculture programmes, more youth in the area were being encouraged to go into farming, adding that eight motorized water pumps had been procured and given to eight farming groups to enable them to go into irrigated tomato and maize farming during the dry season.

"Government is sensitive to the plight of farmers and will continue to do all it can to improve their living conditions," the MCE said. A spokesman for the farmers, Mr. Joe Aboyah, thanked government for acknowledging the important role farmers play in the national development effort.

He also expressed the appreciation of farmers for the subsidized tractor services introduced by the Municipal Assembly which, he said, benefited them immensely during the just-ended farming season. Mr. Aboyah appealed to Government to ensure the timely implementation of the President's Special Initiatives for the Region.