Award-winning farmers call on Regional Minister.

Bolgatanga, (U/E), Dec. 16, GNA- Two women farmers from the Upper East Region who won awards at the National Farmers Day celebration, paid a courtesy call on the Regional Minister, Mr. Mahami Salifu, on Monday to present the awards to him.

They are Madam Teni Tiah, who won the second best position in the mixed farming category for which she received a tractor and its accessories plus an air ticket to India, donated by the Indian Embassy in Ghana, while Madam Mary Atayila, won the second best position in the mono-cropping category.

Introducing the winners to the Minister, the Regional Director of Agriculture, Mr. Edmund Otupiri, said the Upper East Region is generally rated second best nationwide in the award of prizes after Ashanti Region, adding that the National best farmers for the years 19996 and 2000 came from the region.

Mr. Otupiri gave a brief profile of Madam Teni, describing her as a determined and hardworking woman. He said even after losing 41 million cedis while cultivating a 37-hectare tomato farm which was destroyed by pests last year, Madam Teni still did not give up farming and has always used compost manure to grow her crops.

He said Madam Teni cultivates a variety of crops and vegetables including maize, tomatoes, onions and groundnut in addition to animal husbandry.

On Madam Atayila, Mr. Otupiri said as a nutritionist with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in Bongo, she has taken keen interest in the rearing of animals and has a large farm of pigs, cattle, sheep, poultry and other ruminants to her credit. She has a number of employees on the farm.

Mr. Salifu congratulated the winners and said in spite of the harsh climatic conditions in the region, farmers are determined to grow enough to feed the people and make a decent income.

He praised the women for the achievement and urged the youth to go into farming, adding that it is one of the most lucrative and less risky venture that anybody can start with little capital.

The award winners on their part pledged to do more, and commended government for recognising the contributions of farmers to the socio-economic development of the country.

They, however, appealed to government to impress on the financial institutions to give farmers a special interest rate to encourage more people to go into farming. 16 Dec 03