Agri Local

Mango Farmers Call For Mass Spraying To Control BBS

Mango farmers in the Asuogyaman district of the Eastern region are calling for a mass spraying of mango farms in the district to ward off further attacks by the BBS disease.

The call by the farmers arises out of the anxiety in the aftermath of the devastation caused the BBS in 2017.

Mango farmers in the country last year suffered huge losses after being massively attacked by the mango bacterial black spot disease.

The farmers feared losing their harvest, noting they do not have the financial strength to undertake mass spraying exercise to rid their farms of the disease, hence need assistance.

The bacterial black spot is a very serious disease of mangoes and it causes cracks in both the trees and the fruit, resulting in the fruit getting rotten and dropping from the tree prematurely.

Although they say the yield on their farms has also been encouraging, they said the invasion of the blackspot disease has troubled them since it is highly likely to affect their harvest.

They also lamented that they have no known agro-chemical that can be used to combat the disease.

They are therefore compelled to spend man hours to prune the affected mango fruits on the trees.

Making the call on the Akuafo Sesen’ segment of the Rite Morning Ride, the Chairman of the PCG Ebenezer Congregation Farmers Association in the Asuogyaman District, Mr. John Agyakwa recommended the mass spraying of mango farms by the government to salvage mango farms, as done for cocoa farmers.

According to him, the invasion of mango farms by the Black Bacterial Spot (BBS) last season left many mango farmers financially devastated.

The invasion, he added led to most mango farmers losing their businesses while others have been left indebted following their inability to pay back loans taken from financial institutions.

Source, Prince Paul Amuzu/www.ritefmonline.org/princeamuzu667@gmail.com

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