By Ewoenam Kpodo, GNA
Denu (V/R), March 28, GNA – The Ketu South Municipal office, Department of Agriculture, has organised an inputs fair to prepare farmers for the upcoming major farming season.
The annual fair, initiated by the Municipal Agriculture Department, introduced the farmers to new inputs (seeds, fertilisers and farm implements) ahead of the start of the farming season from April to improve yields.
Officials of the Department introduced government programmes including the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs to the farmers, urging them to take advantage of it to improve productivity.
The fair had input dealers mostly from Accra making presentations on their portfolio as well as on appropriate use of fertilisers and ways to organise into farmer groups for easy access to finance.
Some participants, who spoke to Ghana News Agency, commended the Department for organising the Wednesday fair well-intended for smallholder farmers to make good profits from their ventures.
“I benefitted a lot from the presentations. One thing that struck me is that as farmers, we’re doing a lot of harm to our crops/farms and to our own self by wrongfully applying fertilisers and herbicides/weedicides,” Mr Sackey Gamor, a farmer from Tublukope, said.
Mrs Felicia Mensah, a vegetable farmer from Adafienu, suggested the fair should be held quarterly instead of annually to equip them with modern trends in agricultural practices.
“During the fair, we get to learn about new things, new inputs and programmes. Today, I picked two things – appropriate use of fertilisers for good yields and forming into group for access to financial support.”
“For the inputs for instance, we get them at subsidised prices. So, as you can see, I bought seeds and fertilisers (liquid). If I had gone for them at a market price, I would have paid more. Our agric people in the Municipal office should look at it and see if they can organise this every three month for us.”
Some inputs dealers expressed gratitude for the opportunity to meet with their potential clients, saying it held short-term and long-term promises to their business sales on one hand and the quantity and quality of yields on the other.
GNA