A day training of 64 farmers drawn from Binduri District and Bawku Municipal in Upper East Region was held at Manga Station of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Savana Research Institute (CSIR-SARI).
The farmers were trained on good practices in fertilizer application under irrigation. The practical and hands-on training was carried out on Agricultural Manufacturing Group (AMG) Limited sponsored demonstration fields for Maize, Soybean, Okra and Garden eggs under drip irrigation.
A Lead Senior Research Scientist, Dr. Francis Kusi and his team of Scientists and Technicians took the farmers through practical demonstration of dibbling and covering after application of fertilizer and also supervised the farmers to dibble, apply and cover the fertilizer.
Dr. Kusi, stated that the Upper East Region records torrential rainfalls around the months of July and August, which happens to be the time most farmers apply fertilizer to their crops.
“Therefore, if you just drop your fertilizer by the crops, as it is the practice of most farmers, bulk of it will be washed and carried away in the run-off water. The nature of the soils in this part of the country is sandy and for that matter erosion and leaching are common in the area. Hence the need to place your fertilizer for the plants to make good use of it over a period by securing it in a hole made with dibbles”, he admonished.
Dr. Kusi, encouraged the farmers to consider the benefit of increased yields in adopting the best practices in fertilizer application by committing a little time and money to engage labour to dibble before applying fertilizer.
He also introduced the farmers to split method of fertilizer application as a means to maximize the intake of the fertilizer that will be applied to the crops over the cropping season, given their soil type and the rainfall distribution.
The Commercial Manager of AMG for Northern and Upper East Regions, Bismark Asante, used the opportunity to introduce the company’s fertilizer to the farmers.
Mr. Asante in his interaction with the farmers, revealed that, in addition to trace elements, AMG compound fertilizer contains two sources of Nitrogen (N); thus, Nitrate and Ammoniaca.
“Whiles the Nitrate component are readily released upon application, the Ammoniaca releases its Nitrogen slowly to the plants, hence the plants sustain their greenness, vigorous growth and development, resulting in high yields”, he stated.
Mr Asante recommend AMG Fertilizer to the farmers based on the rainfall distribution and the sandy nature of soil of the area as presented by Dr. Francis Kusi, the CSIR-SARI Lead Senior Research Scientist.
The farmers who inspected the demonstration fields, were extremely impressed with the performance of the crops sustained greenness and the performances of the crops due to the application of AMG fertilizer and pledged to use AMG fertilizer to improve upon their yields.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|Joshua Asaah|101.1Mhz
