The government has donated two (2) sets of portable irrigation machines and five hundred (500) bags of fertilizers to the Pomaakrom Petra Cooperative
The donation was presented by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Eric Opoku, in Ahafo Ano North.
Ghana imports over USD400 million worth of tomatoes and paste annually, heavily driven by the December-July off-season deficit.
This donation aimed at enhancing vegetable production like tomatoes throughout the year, especially during the lean season, to curb dry-season importation of vegetables and retain and strengthen Ghana’s import balance sheet.
During the donation, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Eric Opoku, extolled the youth for establishing the cooperative with a common goal to produce vegetables for the country to sustain food security.
According to the Minister, the vision of the President, John Dramani Mahama, is to make farmers more worthy than any other profession. To achieve this, he said, the government is providing favourable farming working conditions through the Feed Ghana Programme with the right agricultural tools and technology, and a market for the farm produce.
This government intervention includes the free donation of 2 portable irrigation machines and 500 bags of fertilizer. One of the portable irrigation machines could irrigate 5 acres of land; therefore, the 2 irrigation machines would irrigate 10 acres of land.
Explaining the uses of the machine, he said the machine can be assembled for use and disassembled after use. It could be moved to different farms for the same purposes.
“Resetting Ghana’s agriculture, the government, under the leadership of President Mahama, is procuring more of these portable irrigation machines. The government will subsidise the price so that every cooperative can afford to promote lean seasonal farming,” he added.
He mentioned that the government is making every effort to provide favourable conditions for farmers to produce vegetables, especially tomatoes during the lean season.
He urged the youth to focus on agriculture, especially during the dry season, because vegetable prices, especially for tomatoes, are high then.
He called on the youth and the elders of Pomaakrom to make good use of the irrigation machines and the fertilizers to enhance maximum production and improve farmers’ livelihoods.
