Eight hundred and four rice farmers in the Hohoe municipality have benefited from farming equipment worth $40,000 provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The gesture was facilitated by Finatrade to boost rice production in the area.
The equipment comprised a combined rice harvester for cutting, threshing and bagging of rice and an automatic rice seeder.
Presenting the items, the Group Chairman of Finatrade, Mr Nabil E. Moukarzel, said the presentation formed part of the company’s continued support for rice farmers in the country.
Rice cultivation is a dominant agricultural activity in the municipality, with the 438 acres currently under cultivation.
Mr Moukerzel said Finatrade was also providing a guaranteed market for all rice farmers in the country provided that their produce met the requirements of the Ghanaian consumer.
He said as a private company, Finatrade was fully committed to the long-term success of local rice production in the country.
He said the company had also negotiated with some of the banks to assist farmers access loans to expand their farms.
In September 2009, Finatrade donated GH¢30,000 to the Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body (GRIB), to provide post-harvest structures to improve the quality and standardisation of locally produced rice in deprived communities in the country.
A representative from USAID, Ms Pearl Achah, pledged her organisation’s support to help boost agricultural production in the country.
She urged the farmers to endeavour to produce quality rice, especially when they have been supported with equipment.
The Volta Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Mr John Tsrakasu, stressed the need for the harmonisation of rice projects, as well as other agricultural productions for sustainable development.
A rice nucleus farmer, Mr Mensah Adams, on behalf of the rice farmers, thanked USAID and Finatrade for the support and appealed to the institutions to help them with equipment that could easily remove tree stumps and plough the valleys in which they cultivated their rice farms.
No comments:
Post a Comment