By Joyce Bedeley:
The Yilo Krobo Municipal Best Farmer – 2016, Mr. Ishmael Boafo has expressed misgivings about the continuous use of obsolete methods of farming by some farmers. According to him, the continuous resort to farming methods involving the use of such implements as hoes, cutlasses, rakes, etc cannot be as effective as desired, adding that it was high time farmers resorted to the use of modern farming technologies.
Mr. Boafo who made the above assertions when he appeared as guest on Rite FM’s Agrotech on Monday hosted by Mr. Edwin Larbi noted that there was no need to continue to engage in these archaic farming methods.
‘This is the time the farmer needs to use modern technologies like the use of tractors, combine harvesters and other farming machinery to improve their work. This also makes the work easier and faster and saves time,’ the farmer stressed. According to him, fruits such as mangoes and other perishable fruits needs constant preservation, an exercise which requires some form of technology to successfully execute in order to ensure their preservation. According to him, these technologies include the extraction of juice from the product as well as converting them into products fruit chips.
He regretted the unhealthy behavior of consumers who indiscriminately dispose of food waste, such as the peels, after taking their food especially when the peel can be dried and used to feed ruminants, adding that even the kernel of the mango is also valuable such as extracting oil from the seed which can fetch an additional income for the farmer.
He added that as part of the new Agric minister’s initiative on the planting for food and jobs, he has been selected as a farmer on that initiative, specifically assigned on maize farming in the Yilo Municipality of about 20 acres.
He also decried the high cost of modern farm implements and the toll it’s taking on farmers. ‘Most at times, availability and affordability of farm implements and equipment is one of the major challenges confronting farmers and so government must subsidize these on their behalf to get the implements and machines on loan. And so it somehow best that if the farmer don’t have the machines to hire and also do more serving on the farm implements.
He concluded with an advise to large scale farmers to get their personal machines to use in preparing the land and urged them to join the Farmer-Based Organizations in order to access loans and share ideas that will go a long way to benefit them.’
Source: ritefmonline.org
