Residents of Nayoku, a farming community in the West Mamprusi District of Northern Region are now enjoying bumper harvest using compose manure as they have succeeded in increasing their crop yields by more than 50%.
This is as a result of the Mentorship and training Programs on improved methods of farming they benefited from under the Integrated Agricultural Productivity Improvement and Marketing Project, (INTAPIMP) by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) with financial support from the Alliance for Greening Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
The farmers who have now adopted compose manure as a substitute for Chemical fertilizer, are recording more than 3 times their usual yields when they were using chemical fertilizer.
The three-year project, which ends in September, was implemented in 197 communities in 10 Districts all in northern region. Out of 11404 beneficiaries, 39.2% are female and the rest male. Even though statistics reveal that, women form greater percentage of peasant farmers in the region.
In an interview with one of the farmers, Mr Amadu Issah revealed he now harvests between twelve and fourteen bags of corn out of an acre using compose. Hitherto, he harvested no more than six bags using chemical fertilizer. Abdulai Christiana tells me she harvested eleven bag out of an acre using the compose manure. Out of this, she sold a bag to start a petty trade in the community to cater for her children’s school needs. Apart from the increase in yields, they say it is also cost efficient as compared to buying chemical fertilizer. For the past three years, the community have been applying compose.
Source: modernghana
