The former deputy minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Alhasan Yakubu, has called on government of Ghana to deploy technology in the agriculture sector to reach the farmers.
This he said is as a result of the fact that farmer extension ratio in the country is low and thus affecting access to information for farmers.
The former deputy minister speaking to Rite Agro News disclosed that there will always be a distance farmer and a distance extension officer and also that there is limited number of extension officers to make up to the desires of farmers.
Despite the existing problem of inadequate extension officers, Ghana is doing well in terms of technology and as a country more can be deployed into the sector to make information circulation easy.
According to him, normal telephoning to educate farmers by the extension officers to receive information is needed to boost farming activities.
Hon. Alhasan Yakubu said weather forecasting can be communicated to farmers through their mobile phones since farmers need it to survive.
He lamented that there are outbreak of fall army worm, mechanization, marketing problems, climate change issues that cannot be sent home to the farmers by an extension officer.
He said Ghana can have lasting solution to all these problems when technology is deploy and adapted to the sector as a country.
Source: Austin Ofori Addo/ ritefmonline.org/austinofori.addo@gmail.com
