By Bajin D. Pobia
Wa, June 5, GNA – The Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity has called on the private sector to actively engage with research institutions to utilise new technologies and other products to help improve the economic lives of farmers.
It noted that the private sector, especially agricultural oriented companies and individual farmers, must complement the efforts of the Savannah Agriculture Research Institute (SARI) by patronising improved seeds and equipment to support the actors in the agricultural sector to boost food and cash crop production.
There was, therefore, the need to build partnerships with SARI and other research institutions for utilisation of the available modern technologies, and not to isolate themselves from the new varieties of seeds, agricultural machinery and equipment that were produced to benefit the farmers.
Mr Musa Salifu Taylor, the Capacity Building Team Leader with the MSR Activity, made the call at a two-day “Feed the Future Ghana Market System and Resilience Activity Agenda for Ghana MSR and CSIR-SARI Research Pipeline Workshop” organised for farmers in the Upper West Region.
The 44 participants, drawn from the Wa, Jirapa, Sissala East, Wa East and Sissala West Districts, comprised cowpea, soyabeans, groundnut, sheabutter farmers and processors, Scientists from SARI and officials from the Department of Agriculture.
The participants embraced the new technologies developed and those yet to be introduced to the farmers.
The USAID contracted MSR with $35. 9 million to operate in 17 municipalities and districts in the Upper West, Upper East, Northern and North East Regions to increase agricultural led economic growth, through competitive, strong and more resilient markets in northern Ghana.
Mr Taylor said the workshop sought to enlighten companies and the private sector of the varieties of cowpea, soyabeans, groundnuts and maize seeds, which were of early-maturing, higher yielding and drought tolerance, as well as resistance to the fall army worm and striga weeds.
He encouraged the private sector to focus on upscaling the seeds, and products of SARI and other research institutions available to increase yields, saying, “Everything about agriculture is about quality seed, which should not be overlooked.”
The MSR Capacity Building Team Leader urged the farmers to patronise the new technologies and extend their utilisation to the public.
He expressed regret that SARI had developed several varieties of maize, cowpea, soyabeans, groundnuts and others on the pipeline to be introduced but they were not being patronised, thereby defeating the purpose for which they were developed.
Companies and individual farmers should, therefore, sign agreements with SARI or apply for licences to take its foundation seeds to multiply and distribute to farmers.
Dr Emmanuel Yaw Owusu, a Research Scientist at SARI, noted that the challenge SARI faced was that after developing the products, its scientists were time constraints with no opportunities to market the products.
He said there was the need for partnership from companies and the private sector to aid their supply and packaging to the public.
He appealed to policymakers to always consult research and development institutions in their quest to list the type of seeds needed for farmers with the introduction of new projects.
Mr Owusu said liberal opportunities should be given to seed companies to package their seeds with their own brand to enable farmers trace the sources of seeds provided to them on the market.
He also said efforts must also be made to register input dealers to distribute certified seeds to rural farmers to address the infiltration and incidents of quack seed producers from the system.
Mr Opoku Godwin, a Soil Scientist at SARI, Wa Station, said farmers should test their farmlands to know the condition and quality of the soil to determine the type of crops to plant and the quantity of fertilizers to apply on the crops to help reduce cost and improve yields.
He explained that the absence of soil testing had caused several farmers to plant crops that were not suitable for their soil, resulting in poor yields and undue financial losses.
Madam Eva Adomaa Kyereboah, the Chief Executive Officer of RHUB Resources Limited, who is into vegetable production, appealed to farmers to make good use of the dams to produce vegetables to improve nutrition and reduce poverty.
She said Ghana was importing vegetables from Burkina Faso and Togo while there were several dams in the region, which were underutilised.
She appealed to the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority to provide equipment and connect pipelines to the dams to supply water for vegetable and other crops production, especially during the dry season.
Madam Kyereboah also called on SARI and other research institutions to develop technologies, which could be used to package and preserve vegetables during glut periods.
GNA