Mr John Armah-Kojo Archer, a peasant farmer in vegetable production in the Ellembelle District, has called on the government to set up a mechanization centre for farmers in the area to boost all-year-round farming.
That, he noted, would lead to an increase in food productivity which has the potential to stabilize the economy.
According to him, in the absence of modern innovations in agriculture, farmers continued to produce on a small scale.
Mr Archer expressed the sentiments during a farmer Focus Group Discussion (FGD) at Ampain in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.
The FGD sought to elicit opinions and policy direction on the promotion of agriculture as the backbone to Ghana’s economy.
He recalled that agriculture production became vibrant during former President Ignatius Kutu Acheampong’s regime with the policy, ” Operation Feed Yourself” campaign.
He questioned why Ghana continued to import tomatoes from neighbouring Burkina-Faso and other food produce from other countries.
Mr Archer who is a leading member of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) in the Ellembelle District, observed with concern that most of the youth had no interest in agriculture because right from school, “they see farming as a form of punishment.”
He said farmer cooperative unions have been formed in Ellembelle as a way of pooling resources to produce on a large or commercial basis, but they lacked the financial backing, equipment and modern technologies for irrigation framing which would entice the youth to migrate from galamsey activities.
Mr Archer indicated that for an all-year-round farming, there was the need for available constant water supply through pumping machines, DRIP equipment, poly tanks, fertilizer application among others, to ensure food security and food sufficiency in the country.
On his part, Mr Carol Pius Senker, the Ellembelle District Director of Agriculture, appealed to the government to consider the district as one of the first five districts to benefit from a mechanization centre to boost all-year-round farming in the area
Mr Senker said setting up the mechanization centre in the district would open the area to irrigation, which would ensure constant supply of water to irrigate farmlands.
It would also open the area to ploughing and harrowing farms, which would expand acres of land under cultivation.
The Ellembelle Director of Agriculture noted that some farmers were still using traditional methods of farming, thereby leading to low productivity.
Mr Senker pointed out that with mechanization centres, there would be tractors, power tillers, implementers such as harrows, ploughs, and planters which would enhance farming activities from subsistence to commercial farming.
The Agricultural Director said apart from tractors, there would be an irrigation equipment facility which will help most of the vegetable farmers do very well in Ellembelle and increase their capacity too.