As part of resetting Ghana and the agriculture sector by reducing import and exchange rate to reduce high debt of rice seed importation, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has entrusted a Korean company called Korea programme on International Agriculture (KOPIA) to produce rice seeds for production at Dawenya irrigation enclave in Accra.
To ensure effective supervision of the project, the Minister of Food and Agriculture Hon. Eric Opoku together with is deputy Hon. Farmer John Dumelo, some of the staff members and stakeholders in the agriculture sector visited the project site to witness the ongoing project.
Narrating the advent of the visitation, Hon. Eric Opoku said KOPIA donated 300 tons of rice seeds to the ministry to be distributed to Ghanaian farmers. Although, the 300 tons were not enough according to the minister, the company has assured to expand their production to produce the needed quantity of seeds for the farmers. This action of producing seeds locally would bridge the importation gap which would save the country millions of dollars.
Minister mentioned that though the 300 tones would not be enough for this year’s planting season, but the government would procure the remaining seeds for the farmers. “KOPIA has assured they are expanding their supply capacity in order to supply our farmers with enough seeds, this fuelled our visitation to inspect the project as 100 hectors of land have been added to their land operation for the expansion”, he told Agric Today.
Quizzing the Minister on the quality and the production level of the rice seed he said KOPIA is specialized seed producing company and according to the samples planted, it would take 5months for harvest and its yields is as high as 5 tons per acre.
To this effect he said the seeds would improve the living standards of the farmers since there would be high production.
He commended KOPIA at the pace of work and urged them to effectively discharge their duties on time.
