The Agric Director of the Yilo Krobo Municipality, Mr. Daniel Oduro has described the government’s ‘operation planting for food and jobs’ as being successful so far. According to him, not even the invasion by the fall army worms could scuttle the program.
“The planting for food and jobs policy has been very fruitful in the Yilo Krobo municipality. Though we encountered the fall army worm invasion, we nevertheless managed to bring it under total control and no farm in the municipality was totally destroyed,” Mr. Oduro asserted.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in April launched the “Planting for Food and Jobs” programme at Goaso, in the Brong Ahafo Region.
According to him, the programme will among other things encourage the youth to desist from migrating elsewhere in search of non-existent jobs. He added that the programme will go a long way in transforming the country’s agriculture sector.
The Planting for Food and Jobs programme is expected to increase the production of maize by 30 per cent; rice by 49 per cent; soybean by 25 per cent; and sorghum by 28 per cent from current production levels.
This programme will also create 750,000 jobs in both direct and indirect employment.
The government also through the Ministry Of Food And Agriculture supported the farmers with subsidized fertilizers and free seeds to improve production and the profit margin of the farmers.
Meanwhile the fall army worm invasion which covered over 20,000 hectares of farm lands in the country this year nearly shattered the good vision behind such the planting for food and jobs policy which the Ministry of Food Agriculture put measures in place to tackle.
Mr. Oduro noted that they have the technical staff for the implementation of the policy who enlightened the farmers on how to go about the invasion of the fall army worm and the government also brought the chemicals to fight the menace which worked positively.
He mentioned that the agric department requested the necessary inputs for the policy which covered 850 hectares of farmland while demand continues to increase from farmers.
He said in view of this, the Department of Agric in the Yilo Krobo municipality in will in the coming year target over 1,700 hectares to reach more farmers in the municipality.
The director further urged the farmers to support the initiatives of this government since agriculture has now taken a new trend as long as technology is concerned so that farmers should take advantage of the policy to earn and cultivate more for the country.
Source: Austin Ofori Addo/ritefmonline.org/austinofori.addo@gmail.com
