Mr Joe Debrah, Manager for Goland Plantation has said that the Agriculture sector is doomed because the authorities are not paying much attention to the farmers through whom the nation is adequately fed. Citing some instances to buttress his point, Mr. said current irrigation dams in the country still remain those which were built in Acheampong regime at a time most countries on the continent did not even know about the existence of ‘irrigational dams’.
According to him, even communities with irrigational dams such as Afefeh which has the biggest dam for rice cultivation, Tono, Via and Wenneba can no longer taking pride in those dams which have totally collapsed, leaving youth who would have hitherto found opportunities in the agric sector unemployed.
Another area of concern to Mr. Debrah is the agriculture ministry not adequately supporting farmers. According to him, farmers were suffering from the high cost of farming, citing the cost of wellington boots which cost some Gh c 70.00 as a good example.
Mr. Debrah believes Ghana has never been serious with its agriculture sector over the last half century, adding that while Thailand exports pepper worth $ 12 billion a year, Ghana on the other hand been banned from exporting long chilli pepper as result of bad practices.
To him, giving of loans to farmers to expand their activities would serve as a better incentive rather than houses and wellington boots during Farmers’ Day.
Source: ritefmonline.org
