Due to a present shortage of inorganic fertilizers, farmers have been recommended to employ organic fertilizers to increase productivity.
According to Mr. Obrien Nyarko, the planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) program provides farmers with organic fertilizers, which are also sold on the open market. He is also the Dean of the Conference of Regional Directors of Agriculture (CORDAG).
The main difference between organic and inorganic fertilizers, which farmers often employ, is how they are applied.
In an interview at a CORDAG conference in Koforidua, Mr. Nyarko stated that extension agents were using demonstration farms in some of the districts to teach farmers how to utilize organic fertilizers.
The Conference was on the theme: “Sustaining Effective Agriculture Extension Delivery in the Decentralized System, Role of the Regional Director.â€
Mr Henry Crentsil, the Eastern Regional Director of Agriculture, said the Conference was to devise strategies to sustain the Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) programme to ensure the consolidation of the gains.
He said one of the key components of the MAG programme was to support agriculture research and extension services, which are the heartbeat of agriculture, adding “Conference will look at ways to concertedly expand the extension services even as the MAG project ends.â€
The MAG is a five-year programme, which began in 2017, and one of its main components is to strengthen extension services as well as improve agriculture productivity, among other objectives and would end in 2022.