According to Mrs. Cecilia Kagya- Agyemang, the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PfFJs) initiative has increased agricultural growth and improved national food security.
She stated that the program’s benefits have grown significantly, including the plenty of food in the nation, and added that another goal was to modernize the agricultural industry in order to increase job possibilities and lower poverty in the nation.
Speaking during a regional joint sector assessment on maintaining PfFJ gains for a resilient national food system in Techiman, Bono East Region, Mrs. Kagya-Agyemang made this statement.
Participants were drawn from the five municipalities and six districts in the region and they included agriculture officer, farmers and other stakeholders.
She said sustaining the PfFJs’ gains through stakeholder support in promoting agricultural sector activities would greatly mitigate poverty.
Mrs Kagya-Agyemang noted, however, that the outbreak of the COVID-19 and the effects of Russian-Ukraine war had resulted in the high cost of fertilizer and fuel leading to the limited use of inorganic fertilizer.
It is against that background, she said it had become imperative for government and stakeholders to take actions that would sustain the gains of PfFJs.
Mrs Kagya-Agyemang therefore encouraged farmers to continue with the application of organic fertilizers since they were less costly and could also assist in promoting shifting from inorganic to organic fertilizer usage for quality crop production.
In a presentation, Mr Eric Kontomah, the Bono East Regional Crop Officer said the PfFJs focused on growing cereal, leguminous and vegetable crops such as maize, rice, sorghum, soybean, groundnuts, cowpea, tomatoes, onions, pepper, cabbage, cucumber, lettuce and carrots.
Mr Kontomah reiterated the PfFJs’ gains further covered increased use of inorganic fertilizers, use of improved seeds due to climate variation, improved extension services and increased awareness and adoption of diverse organic fertilizers such as foliage use by farmers.
He appealed for adequate recruitment of agriculture extension officers, provision of electronic registration for farmers under the PfFJs programme in the southern sector, recruitment of adequate staff to safeguard the inputs distribution to farmers at the various sales points in the districts and improving road network in the region for holistic improvement of agricultural activities.