farmers in Zebilla, capital of Bawku West District, in the Upper East Region, have started preparing their lands and sowing cereals as they are in the wet season.
Others, who have already sown seeds have also started weeding, thinning, supplying, manuring and controlling pests and diseases on their farms.
The Ghanaian Times on a visit to the place, last Sunday, spotted farmers engaging in agricultural activities, including ploughing, harrowing and levelling. Others were seen with animals tilling the earth.
These farmers in separate interviews with the Ghanaian Times affirmed that the season was for sowing (farming) wheat, rice, corn (maize) and millet.
The farmers also indicated that though the season had delayed this year, they would apply “short duration variety technique” in harvesting.
The Senior House Master Academic, Zebilla Senior High Technical (SHT), Mr Samuel Mbilla, who was thinning around late afternoon at the time the journalist of the Ghanaian Times visited the place, noted that “this year the rainy season did not come in good time.”
The house master said it was always good for framers to start sowing around June 15 but it was already a month late, adding “we need to use a short duration variety so that we will catch up with the time.”
He stated that there were several varieties of seedlings, some of which took up to 60 days, 90 days or 120 days to mature “so because of that we have resorted to the short duration thus the 60 days variety.”
“A lot of farmers are currently sowing and this is the time. If you sow up to July 25, it is not bad but if you go beyond July, you will have to resort to the cowpea otherwise if the rains do not extend up to October, you will not get proper yield,” Mr Mbilla added.
He said farmers were expected to harvest crops in late September, but those who were still sowing would move into October.
Yusif Hussein, another farmer, at Timonde, who was ploughing his farm at the time of the visit, said there were varieties of cereals with shorter maturity period, and that “because of the nature of the soil farmers had to plan properly to get good yield.”
Lamisi Tii, who was also thinning her farm with her children after sowing, indicated that she wanted to apply fertiliser so “that there will not be waste of nutrients.”
FROM ABIGAIL ARTHUR, ZEBILLA
