The Upper Manya Krobo District Director of Department of Agriculture, Hilary Alagbo, has bemoaned the current exorbitant increases in prices of agro inputs and petroleum products in the country.
As a result of this, food prices keep soaring by the day thereby affecting the ordinary Ghanaian, especially farmers.
Mr Alagbo said this at a day’s Research Extension Linkage Committee (RELC) Planning Session at Asesewa in the Eastern Region.
He said agriculture continued to be the mainstay of the country’s economy in spite of the challenges faced by the sector in recent times.
The session provided an opportunity for the various stakeholders in agriculture in the district to deliberate on problems and challenges confronting them in the sector and also suggest some recommendations to help solve them.
According to him, research played a vital role in turning the fortunes of farmers around if there was effective collaboration between research institutions, extension organisations and farmers.
It is against this background that over the years research institutions have tirelessly worked to release pest, diseases and drought tolerant varieties of crops and breeds of livestock and fish. This according to him, had led to the increase in yields of crops and number of animals translating into improved incomes and livelihoods of the farmers.
Mr Alagbo reminded the participants that in today’s world it was extremely difficult to operate in isolation and succeed, and urged them to ensure effective feedback mechanism between themselves and extension officers to improve technology dissemination.
The chairperson for the occasion, Walter Kwadzo Drayi, entreated the participants to take advantage of the department’s value chain approach to agriculture in the district to form groups among the various categories of actors to do business, help solve their problems and source for assistance for their mutual benefits.
The participants enumerated climate change in the form of irregular rainfall distribution and long dry spell, poor road network, lack of ready market for their farm produce and activities of nomadic herdsmen as some of the challenges confronting them.
FROM KODJO DAVID, ASESEWA
