Nkwakyire (B/R), Nov. 18, GNA – A group of farmers benefiting from a project seeking to introduce improved maize varieties in the Tano South District have described the project as a game changer which could significantly increase their income.
The beneficiary farmers at Nkwakyire near Derma who are already expecting a bumper harvest, having seen the performance of the improved seed introduced to them under the project.
The CORAF-Partnership for Agricultural Research, Education and Development (PAIRED) project is being implemented by the Crop Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-CRI).
Farmers in the beneficiary communities have been organised as a group known as Innovation Platform (IP) who are regularly engaged by officials of CRI on the advantages of patronizing improved maize seed fortified with quality protein and vitamin A.
They are also taken through best farming practices and how to mobilise themselves to support each other as a group to be able to access credit facilities and also benefit from government interventions.
Members of the Nkwakyire IP shared varied exciting stories about how the project had impacted their farming activities when a team of officials from CSIR-CRI visited the community last Wednesday.
The team led by Prof. Paul Bosu, Deputy Director General of CSIR who also doubles as the Focal Person for the project was in the community to monitor the progress of work and also interact with the farmers.
After interacting with the farmers, the team together with the farmers visited the community dissemination field where four improved maize varieties had been planted alongside the local seed that the farmers had been using over the years.
The four varieties which included Omankwa, Timtim, Opeaburo and Abontem were obviously doing well compared to the local one as demonstrated by Dr. Stephen Yeboah of CRI who explained the differences between the various varieties.
The team also visited the farm of a local certified seed grower who had been supported by the CORAF-PAIRED project to cultivate 10 acres of the Omankwa variety.
Dr. Jonas Osei-Adu, the Project Coordinator, said the project also sought to build a sustainable seed system where farmers would have access to quality seed at affordable price.
He said the idea to support the local farmers to cultivate the Omankwa seed was to enable farmers within the area to have access to quality seed without travelling to Kumasi or a long distances to purchase seeds.
“The long term strategy is that we will have several of his type in the system such that government does not have to import seed anymore because we spend so much just to import seed when we have CRI which has developed so many varieties,” he stated.
Prof. Bosu commended the farmers for embracing the project and urged them to strictly apply the knowledge being imparted to them to improve their yields.
He said the technologies being deployed to improve their farming activities would not only increase their income but also had a huge nutritional benefit for themselves and other consumers of their farm produce.
He underlined the need for them to adopt all the innovative farming practices so that beyond the project they would continue to reap the benefits.
GNA