Farmers advised to adopt conservation farming

Farmers in the country, particularly those in the northern parts of the country have been advised to adopt the conservation method of farming; which is cheaper, naturally acceptable means of cultivation and has a higher crop yield than the current traditional method of farming.

Mr. Andrew Macpherson, Director of the Macpherson Consulting Group who is introducing the idea to farmers under the Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP), said the conservation method had a higher moisture quality, retains more soil nutrients and penetration as well as fertility of soil and consequently increased yield at lower cost.

Mr. Macpherson who was addressing a day’s workshop in Tamale on Wednesday said Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa had adopted the system and had achieved good results.

Mr. Macpherson said the conservation method did not require ploughing, burning as is the case with traditional farming, and that the system which uses the open field, would protect the vegetative cover, reduce erosion and sustain the soil residue.

He mentioned soya bean, sorghum, maize and other cereals that could best be planted using conservation method while crop rotation would be advantageous.

Mr. Paul Siameh, Producer Organization Specialist of the Northern Rural Growth Programme, said the method was among several other approaches the NRGP was studying and when fixable, it will adopt it to enhance agricultural productivity.

He said through conservation, the land was left naturally for cultivation without disturbances, adding that the amount of rainfall pattern in the northern regions would make the conservation farming expedient.

Mr. Siameh said, though burning of the field by farmers could not be avoided in most cases, it was destroying the soil fertility especially the organic materials.

Miss Kafayat Abdul-Karim, the Assistant Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of MOFA, expressed worry that some farmers had been complaining about the high interest rates charged by some financial institutions when they contract loans.

She said some of the farmers complained that they almost lost all their earnings gained in each farming season through the repayment of the loans.**