Accra, Dec.21, GNA—Ghanaian farmers have been advised to purchase farm chemicals from genuine sources for the best returns on their farming activities.
They are also not to purchase products from just any vendor simply because the product may be but rather, exercise restraint, carry out the necessary checks and be extra vigilant.
Mr Peter Ampofo, President of CropLife Ghana, said farmers should always purchase from CropLife members because they were registered importers and distributors of chemicals into the country.
He said by doing so, they could of purchasing genuine products for desired results.
The President gave the advice when CropLife Ghana organised a day’s training for frontier and internal security services on anti-counterfeiting of Agrochemical inputs and law enforcement strategies, in Accra.
The participants were drawn from the Ghana Immigration Service, Customs Excise and Preventive Service and the Ghana Police Service.
Mr Ampofo said counterfeit products or chemicals destroyed the value of what manufacturers brought into the market and caused financial losses to investors who put their monies into the industry.
He said fake products also posed a threat to human and plant health and the environment in general.
Mr Ampofo said the activities of quack manufacturers affected export earnings, in that, foreign countries would gradually lose interest in trading with Ghana.
He said aside training of security officers, CropLife Ghana frequently organised training sessions for farmers to help them easily identify the right chemicals for use on their farms.
Mr Ampofo said they also had a group of young people within their Institution called Spray Service Providers (SSP) who had been trained to properly apply chemicals, identify and source out chemicals from the right vendors.
Mr Joseph Edmund, Acting Director, Chemicals Control and Management Sector, EPA, said according to the Law before any chemical came into the country, it had to be registered and must have an EPA registration number.
As such, he said any product that had not met the aforementioned requirements was adulterated or fake.
Mr Edmund said pesticide inspectors from the Agency had been deployed into the communities to ensure that people did the right thing.
However, he said the challenge was that they did not have enough inspectors and some people still succeeded in carrying out their quack operations.
He therefore called on the public to help the Agency and security personnel to zero in on the defaulters and prosecute them accordingly.
GNA