An agricultural machinery centre has been opened at Dahwenya in the Ningo Prampram District to help scale up rice production in the country.
The centre is equipped with modern equipment including a 100 horsepower Daedong tractor, rice dryer, laser leveler, multi seeder, disinfectant, fertiliser applier, tray, power tiller and sorter, mechanical thresher and sprayer.
The Agricultural Machinery Centre forms part of a five-year project, dubbed “Water-Energy-Food Nexus Programme (WEFP) for Better Lives for Rural Development in Ghana” being undertaken by the Korea Partnership for Innovation of Agriculture (KOPIA) in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Opening the centre, a representative of the Korean Ambassador to Ghana, Jeong Hyeju, said the agriculture machinery centre was developed to support efforts to promote rice production in the country.
She noted that, the machinery would not only increase rice production but also would help farmers save time, energy and resources that could be re-invested in another production activity.
She urged the farmers to make use of the machinery by making efforts to learn how to use them efficiently while maintaining the machinery in the long term.
The Deputy Director of CSIR at the Crops Research Institute, Kumasi, Dr Maxwell Darko Asante, expressed gratitude to KOPIA for the support to Ghanaian agriculture and for developing a modern agricultural machinery centre and warehouse to support the operations of the farmers.
He stated that inadequate mechanisation was responsible for the country’s rice production inefficiencies and insufficiencies.
Dr Asante noted that, Ghanaian farmers, still depended on weather conditions and seasons for their agricultural production activities which was not efficient and also slowed down production.
However, he stated that, with machines such as multi seeder that help plant seeds on dry land and rice dryer that also helps dry rice at all time, the farmers would be able to perform their farming activities without depending on the weather.
Dr Kim Choong Hoe, Director of KOPIA Ghana, said it was time for the country to stop importing rice saying that it had vast arable land and enough resources to produce more than the quantity of rice needed per year.
He urged Ghana to take advantage of the project to improve rice production and deal with the challenge of the huge importation of food.
Mr Richard Martey Afleh, Chairman of Local Rice Farmers at Dawhenya, said machinery, especially the dryer came at the right time, which would support farmers during the raining season.
“These machines will help harvest good and quality seeds. This gesture will go a very long way to improve the Dawhenya Rice Scheme,” he said.
BY CECILIA LAGBA YADA
