FARMERS LAUD INITIATIVE TO SUBSIDISE FERTILISER (PAGE 23)

FARMERS in the Hohoe Municipality in the Volta Region have lauded government’s initiative of subsidising fertilisers.
That policy, they said, would boost food production in the country.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic at Hohoe when collecting fertilisers from the Green Shield Agro Chemical Company, the farmers led by Mr George Agbemavor of Gbi-Kpoeta, said government’s decision to absorb half of the cost was a big relief to them to increase their production this season.
Under the subsidy arrangement, the extension division of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) gives coupons to farmers in order to get access to fertilisers from selected input dealers at half the cost.
Mr Agbemavor said farmers who were engaged in rice and maize production, expressed the hope that their produce would be purchased by the Ghana School Feeding Programme to reduce the country’s over dependence on imported rice in order to conserve foreign exchange.
The Hohoe Municipal Director of MOFA, Mr Geoffrey Honu commended the Green Shield Agro Chemical Company for keeping faith with the farmers in the area through regular supply of fertilisers.
He said last year, 19,000 farmers benefited from the subsidy programme, adding that this year, 12,000 farmers had submitted their coupons for the inputs.
Mr Honu was optimistic that large-scale farmers would also be roped into the subsidy programme.
The Manager of the Green Shield Agro Chemical Company, Efo Kumah Ameyibor, said his outfit would always get the inputs ready at the right time to encourage farmers to maximise yield.