Farmers in the Upper East Region are likely to avoid producing maize in the coming planting season. This is because of the constant rise in the cost of production of the cereal. The production costs are largely influenced by the cost of fertilizers and other inputs.
The farmers would rather invest their monies into legumes because of the relatively cheaper costs of production.
The legumes farmers are likely to produce more of are soybeans, cowpeas and groundnuts.
This is according to the Upper East Regional Director of Agriculture, Francis Ennor. He said this when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show.
“Our farmers, for them to be in good business, they are going to concentrate more on the leguminous crops that do not use much fertilizer. These also have a good market so it means they will still be in business. There will be a cut down of the cereals like that maize that consumes a lot of fertilizer,” he said.
Mr. Ennor admitted that the consequences of these expected decisions of the farmers could have dire consequences on food security in the country.
To help mitigate the effects of same, Mr. Ennor is encouraging individuals who are well resourced to ramp up their production of maize. He said from a cursory look, those who invest in the production of maize would make huge returns.
“Maize production is going to be a problem. This is the time that you invest into it and next year, you [an investor] are going to make it. Those who have money and want to go into agriculture, they should just go into maize production. They should pump in their money to buy the fertilizers and they are going to make it next year. Globally, that is what is happening,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking on the same platform, Mr. Ennor encouraged residents to venture into backyard farming as a means of addressing their own food security.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
