Farmers cautioned against use of unapproved insecticides

The acting Deputy Western Regional Manager of the Quality Control Division of Ghana Cocoa Board, Mr. Francis Enyan, has cautioned cocoa farmers in the country to desist from using unapproved insecticides on their farms to control crop diseases.

According to him, such chemicals could damage cocoa trees and pods and affect the health of consumers of cocoa products.

Mr. Enyan was speaking at a ceremony organized by Amajaro Ghana, a cocoa buying company, at Tarkwa, to pay a total of Gh ¢2.3 million Ghana cedis as premium to more than 500 cocoa farmers, who work under the company in Tarkwa Nsueam and Prestea Huni/Valley constituencies.

It was under the theme: “Sustainable cocoa production: a key to improved livelihood”.

Mr. Enyan said the European Union had detected that cocoa beans from some cocoa growing countries in Africa contain unapproved chemicals and insecticides, and advised cocoa farmers to produce good quality cocoa beans for the world market.

The Manager in charge of operations at Amajaro Ghana, Mr. Nicholas Kumah, noted that bad fermentation of cocoa beans results in low grading and sub-standard produce, and reminded farmers that cocoa beans are fermented for six day.

He advised the farmers to personally transport their cocoa beans to the selling centers to avoid being cheated.

Mr Kumah appealed to the farmers to sell more cocoa beans to the company to enable them benefit fully from packages such scholarship for their wards.