Richard Akoka, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the Farmers’ Network, has highlighted the severe difficulties farmers are facing in the region due to inadequate rain. He revealed that this year has been particularly challenging for farmers, including himself.
He lamented that many of these crops are failing due to inadequate rainfall. He noted that some farmers who prepared their land have been unable to sow seeds due to the lack of rain, while those who did manage to plant are struggling with insufficient water for their crops to thrive.
He expressed skepticism about the potential benefits of any late rains, pointing out that crops that have already failed to germinate cannot recover even if rain arrives.
“Even if the rains begin to come now, those ones that have not been able to germinate well, that’s the end of it because for that one, no matter how the rains will come, you can’t make it up.”
Furthermore, for those who are yet to sow, the uncertainty of whether rain will persist long enough to support crop growth remains a critical concern, as most crops require at least three to four months of consistent water to mature. “Those who haven’t been able to sow, when the rain comes and they start to sow, how long is the rain going to stand? Because for every crop, it takes at least three months and four months. So can we get rain till December or November?”
“If you cannot get water upto November or December, that means that even if you see now, you can’t make it,” he added.
Given these conditions, Mr Akoka concluded that the agricultural sector faces a bleak outlook this year, describing the situation as unfortunate and expressing uncertainty about potential solutions. “So finally it means that business is not good for farmers this year.” “It is an unfortunate situation which we don’t know how to solve.”
Source: A1Radioonline.com | 101.1MHz | Gifty Eyram Kudiabor | Ghana
