By Ernest Nutsugah
Accra, March 21, GNA – Tree crop farmers have been encouraged to adopt good farm maintenance practices to improve crop yield and income generation.
Mr Anim Addo, a journalist and host of “Ayekoo”, an agricultural programme on United Television, gave the advice during a sensitisation programme in Accra for farmers on a locally-produced agro-chemical, known as Organic Farm Aid (OFA).
Speaking on the sidelines, he compared farm maintenance to vehicle maintenance, which required regular upkeep to avoid breakdowns.
He observed that some tree crop farmers, including cocoa farmers, relied heavily on agro-farm inputs without undertaking other routine maintenance on the farm, such as weeding and pruning.
Such neglect affected farm productivity and the potential income agriculturalists could derive from their harvest, he noted.
“Some cocoa farmers spray the farm without weeding the farm, when you do that you won’t get the results…It goes hand-in-hand. Getting the farm input is appropriate but maintaining the farm is also an aspect farmers have to look at,” he stated.
Mr Addo, who is also a farmer, acknowledged the challenges of agriculture in Ghana and urged the participants to seek the best practices and resources available to them.
He emphasised the importance of consulting Agriculture Extension Officers for better farming techniques, and stressed the need for farmers to procure approved agro-chemicals for their activities.
The session, organised by HJA Africa, brought together farmers from regions including Savannah, Ashanti, Western North, and Central Region, who were exposed to the benefits of the farm input OFA, while discussing other pressing issues related to the Agric sector.
Mr Henry Abraham, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, HJA Africa, described OFA as one of the leading organic farm products in the country.
He said the product, approved by regulators, had been in existence for the past six years and effective for pest and fungi control on all type of crops including tree crops such as cocoa, cashew, mango and rubber.
Mr Abraham highlight other forms of support the company offered local farmers, stressing affordability and the benefit derived from the organic farm aid.
“We aspire not just to be a leading organic product but to be the leading fertilizer product in Ghana. We believe we can do that because the benefit we offer farmers are so much bigger than the alternatives on the market,” he stated.
The CEO added that smallholder farmers who did not have access to large funds could use the agro-chemical and get good results.
“We have representatives in every region of Ghana meeting farmer groups to offer general agriculture advice and on our product itself because we believe that farmers doing well is important for us as an agro-impact company.”
Dr Joseph Hongar, Chief Agronomist at HJA Africa, emphasised the importance of reducing labour costs and promoting environmentally friendly and financially sustainable farming practices.
He highlighted the benefits of using organic farm products, and urged farmers to minimise the use of other chemical inputs.
GNA
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