Farmers have been advised to embrace and observe proper agronomic practices (an improved farming activities) to boost their incomes and for national development.
Mr Dangana Mahama, the Babile Agricultural Research Station Manager in-charge of crops, who gave the advice at a demonstration exercise at Babile in the Lawra Municipality on Thursday, said observing proper agronomic practices, such as proper and timely fertilizer application, could improve crop yields.
About 80 farmers, drawn from communities within the municipality, including; Tanchara, Kunyukuo, Kumasare were involved in the demonstration exercise at the Babile Agricultural Research Station.
The Babile Agricultural Research Station organised the demonstration Exercise, with funding support from the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) to introduce farmers to improve high yielding and climate resilient crop varieties including; sorghum, maize, sweet potato, soybeans and beans.
Similar activities were organised at the Kpeve, Wenchi, Mampong and Asuanse Agricultural Research Stations to ensure the successful implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme.
Mr Mahama explained that farmers were involved in the demonstration exercise to train them on appropriate farming practices, especially planting and fertilizer application, to enable them derive the needed benefits from their sweat.
“If you leave fertilizer at the surface, it is not the best because any slight rainfall can wash it away, which is not good, so when you bury it in the soil, it has the ability of melting quickly and the plant makes use of it”, he explained.
The Agriculture expert urged farmers to verify the qualities of the seeds they purchased for planting, especially the right seed variety on the right ecological zone as some improved seeds were ecologically specific.
He said climate change negatively affected the rainfall pattern hence the need for farmers to grow early maturing and high yielding seed varieties such as the Kapaala sorghum variety to maximise the limited rainfall experienced in the northern sector.
Some of the farmers stressed the need to adopt the improved seed varieties that were high yielding and could transform their economies as the convention seed varieties were not high yielding.
“What we are learning here today (fertilizer application) will help us improve our farming activities because it is an important part of farming”, said Madam Francesca Dienyel, a farmer at Kumasare, and indicated that they would pass on the knowledge to their colleagues.
