Some cocoa farmers in the Ashanti region have begun cutting down diseased trees for lack of chemicals to spray their farms.
The development came in the wake of widespread reports of diversion and stealing of chemicals meant for mass cocoa spraying.
Commenting on the challenges of the farmers, the 2011 National Best Farmers Mr. Ignatius Agbo said cocoa production in Ghana is reducing drastically due to the suspended cocoa mass spraying exercise.
He stated that the farmers alone cannot afford to buy all the needed chemicals to spray their cocoa farms adding that even though government has given out fertilizer at a subsided price when they apply the fertilizer and farmers can’t get chemicals to spray their cocoa trees, the black pod disease will still destroy the yielded fruits.
He noted that, the chemicals currently have become scarce on the market and has therefore appealed to MOFA to push more agro chemicals into the market so that farmers will get some to buy.
Mr. Agbo further stated that, the National Farmers and Fishermen Award Winners Association of Ghana (NFFAWAG) has head the cry of the cocoa farmers and the association is going to meet at Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region to elaborate on how best they can approach the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of COCOABOD, Dr. Stephen Opuni to have the challenges of the cocoa farmers solved.
Source: ritefmonline.org
