Resource Agricultural Colleges to offer degree programmes

Kumasi, Oct. 28, GNA - Mr Anthony Appiah, former Principal of Kwadaso Agricultural College, has appealed to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), to resource Agricultural Colleges in the country to enable them to run degree programmes.

This, he said, could help the educational institutions to produce efficient agricultural scientists, researchers and technologists to solve the nation's agricultural problems.

Mr Appiah was speaking at the third matriculation ceremony of the Agricultural College in Kumasi.

One hundred and five students including 11 females were admitted to read General Agriculture and Agricultural Extension for a three-year period. Mr Appiah asked the authorities to introduction managerial and entrepreneurial skills training programmes for students in agricultural colleges to help them to go into full-time farming after completing their education.

He said Ghana could achieve food sufficiency if "we get our acts right", since the country had vast arable land.

Mr Appiah said it was time Ghana ended it dependence on traditional farming methods, out-moded farm equipment and poor irrigation systems that accounted for low agriculture productivity.

He wondered why large quantities of farm produce should perish every year because of the lack of storage facilities and appealed to government to liaise with corporate bodies to apply modern technologies in storing or recycling excess agriculture produce.

Mr Kwabena Agyekum-Sabraw, acting Director in-charge of Human Resource Development and Management of MOFA, urged farmers to take advantage of the "block farming system", designed to educate them on improved farming techniques, to boost production.

He explained that block farming was more convenient and cost effective since it allowed Extension Officers to reach out to many farmers within a defined geographical area.

Mr Agyekum-Sabraw said it also helped farmers to go into partnerships so that they could have easy access to credit facilities and high-yielding seeds.

He re-affirmed government's determination to bring efficiency into the country's agriculture sector.